presented  to  the 

LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  •  SAN  DIEGO 

by 
FRIENDS  OF  THE  LIBRARY 


Dr.   and  Mrs.  George  Shor 

donor 


LIFE  AND  WORK 

OF 

HENRY  WARD  BEECHER 


AN   AUTHENTIC,  IMPARTIAL  AND  COMPLETE  HISTORY  OF 
HIS  PUBLIC  CAREER  AND  PRIVATE  LIFE 

jfrom  tfte  Cratile  to  tfte 


KEPI.ETE    WITH 


ANECDOTES,   INCIDENTS,    PERSONAL    REMINISCENCES    AND 
CHARACTER  SKETCHES. 


DESCRIPTIVE    OF 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  TIMES. 


BY  THOMAS  W.  KNOX, 

Author  of  "  OVERLAND  THROUGH  ASIA,"  "  THE  ORIENTAL  WORLD,"  "  UNDERGROUND, 
"  Bov  TRAVELERS  IN  THE  FAR  EAST,"  "  LIFE  OF  ROBERT  FULTON,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


i?  3Huistrateb  tuitb  a  &tert-$late  portrait  of  JIRr.  ^eecber,  anb 
jSumerou?  JFufl--j&a0e  <Pnjjj:at)inqfi  from  Original  3Be«t0n». 


SOLD    ONLY  BY  SUBSCRIPTION. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

INTERNATIONAL   PUBLISHING   CO., 

44  NO.  FOURTH  ST.,  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
1887. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1887, 

By  THE  HARTFORD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PREFACE. 


IT  has  been  said  by  an  eminent  historian  that  the 
biography  of  no  man  can  be  properly  written  while  he  is 
yet  alive.  To  no  one  will  this  remark  apply  with  greater 
force  than  to  him  whose  name  has  been  foremost  for 
nearly  half  a  century  as  the  pastor  of  Plymouth  Church, 
who  fearlessly  preached  freedom  for  the  slave,  and 
whose  words  have  electrified  a  continent  and  sent  a  thrill 
to  the  heart  of  the  whole  English-speaking  race.  A 
man  who  was  so  highly  distinguished  for  originality  of 
thought,  who  has  been  called  the  Shakespeare  of  the 
century,  the  advocate  of  universal  liberty,  the  friend  of 
the  oppressed  everywhere,  and  who  converted  the  Eng- 
lish public  to  a  right  view  of  the  civil  struggle  in  America, 
could  only  be  fully  and  fairly  appreciated  when  the  grave 
had  closed  over  him,  and  the  mighty  voice  with  which  he 
spoke  had  been  hushed  forever. 

On  the  first  Sunday  of  his  first  visit  to  New  York, 
nearly  thirty  years  ago,  the  author  of  this  volume  crossed 
Fulton  Ferry  and  went  to  Plymouth  Church  "  to  hear 
Beecher."  The  words  to  which  he  listened  on  that  occa- 


iv  PREFACE. 

sion  are  still  ringing  in  his  ears  despite  the  lapse  of  time 
and  the  many  opportunities  of  later  days  to  listen  to  this 
remarkable  teacher  and  orator.  From  that  pleasant  sum- 
mer morning  in  1858  may  fairly  date  the  origin  of  this 
memorial  tribute,  which  is  now  placed  before  the  public 
in  the  hope  that  it  will  meet  the  kindly  reception  which 
has  been  accorded  to  other  books  that  bear  the  writer's 
name  on  their  title-pages. 

Much  of  the  data  and  material  from  which  the  volume 
was  written  was  collected  during  Mr.  Beecher's  lifetime, 
but,  with  the  opening  thought  of  this  preface  ever  in 
view,  no  effort  was  made  to  prepare  it  for  publication  in 
book-form  until  the  sad  event  which  spread  mourning 
throughout  the  land.  As  now  presented,  the  volume  is 
an  account  of  the  life  and  work  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
from  Litchfield  to  Greenwood — from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave.  The  estimates  of  the  character  and  abilities  of 
this  remarkable  man  are  by  those  who  survive  him  and 
can  fix  his  place  in  history  as  one  who  has  ended  his  ca- 
reer and  gone  from  our  midst  forever. 

The  author's  thanks  are  due  to  the  many  friends  and 
acquaintances  of  Mr.  Beecher  who  have  supplied  anec- 
dotes and  personal  recollections  of  this  intellectual  hero, 
and  thus  given  us  an  insight  into  his  character  and  daily 
life  which  would  otherwise  be  wanting.  Thanks  are 
also  due  to  the  author's  assistants  who  have  aided  in  the 
collection  and  transcription  of  the  events  that  make  up 


PREFACE.  V 

the  personal  and  public  life  of  the  subject  of  the  nar- 
rative ;  to  the  newspapers  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn 
that  so  fully  recorded  the  incidents  of  Mr.  Beecher's  ill- 
ness and  death;  and  finally,  but  by  no  means  least,  to 
the  publishers  who  have  spared  no  energy  in  promptly 
issuing  the  volume,  so  that  it  may  be  read  by  the  many 
admirers  of  the  Plymouth  pastor  before  time  has 
dimmed  their  remembrance  of  the  man  who  was  pre- 
eminently typical  of  the  age  and  the  people  and  has 
been  aptly  called  "a  milestone  on  the  highway  of 
American  progress  to  show  how  far  we  have  progressed." 

T.  W.  K. 

NEW  YORK,  April,  1887. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Engraved  from  original  designs  drawn  expressly  for  this  work 
by  eminent  artists. 

PAGE. 

1.  PORTRAIT  OF  REV.  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER,       .        .  Frontispiece. 

Engraved  on  steel  expressly  for  this  work  from   a  photograph 
taken  a  short  time  previous  to  Mr.  Beecher's  death. 

2.  THE    BEECHER    HOMESTEAD    AT    LITCHFIELD,    CONN.,     THE 

BIRTH-PLACE  AND  EARLY  HOME  OF  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER,     39 

3.  AN   INCIDENT   IN  MR.    BEECHER'S    BOYHOOD. — HE    CONTEM- 

PLATES RUNNING  AWAY  TO  SEA,      ......     61 

4.  A  DRAMATIC  SCENE. — THROWING  THE  SLAVE  CHAINS  TO  THE 

FLOOR, 159 

5.  MR.  BEECHER   FACING  AN   ENGLISH   MOB   IN    PHILHARMONIC 

HALL,  LIVERPOOL,  ENGLAND, 195 

6.  THE  "FREEDOM  RING." — MR.  BEECHER  PLEADING  FOR  MONEY 

TO  SET  A  SLAVE  CHILD  FREE, 301 

7.  PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER,     ....  437 

Engraved  expressly  for  this  work  from  a  recent  photograph. 

8.  MR.   BEECHER'S  RESIDENCE,    BROOKLYN,   N.  Y.,   THE  HOUSE 

IN  WHICH  HK  DIED, 509 

9.  MR.  BEECHER'S  CHURCH,  BROOKLYN,  N  Y.,  CALLED  PLYMOUTH 

CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH 523 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   BEECHER  FAMILY. 

The  Genealogy. — American  Origin. — Grandmother  Hannah. — Joseph 
Beecher. — Lyman  Beecher. — His  First  Marriage. — His  First  Pastor- 
ate.— East  Hampton,  Litchfield,  Boston,  Cincinnati. — An  Active  and 
Useful  Career.— Three  Times  Married.— Father  of  Thirteen  Children. 
— A  Conspicuous  Progeny. — Catherine  Esther  Beecher. — Edward 
Beecher,  D.D. — Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe. — Mrs.  Isabella  Beecher 
Hooker 25 


CHAPTER  II. 

HIS   BIRTH  AND  BOYHOOD. 

The  Eighth  Child. —Not  the  First  Baby,  Usually  a  Novelty  in  the  Family. 
— Mrs.  Stowe' s  Reminiscences. — His  Birthplace  at  Litchfield,  Conn. 
— His  Mother's  Death. — Scene  at  the  Death-bed.  — Aunt  Esther.  — The 
Step-mother. — Henry  Never  had  a  Toy. — Doing  Family  Chores. — 
Primitive  Life  in  New  England. — Does  not  want  to  wear  an  Overcoat. 
—A,  B,  C  School.— School-girls  cut  His  Curls.— The  District  School 


viii  CONTENTS. 

— Not  a  Bright  Pupil. — Difficulty  in  Memorizing. — No  Elocutionary 
Ability. — Sent  to  School  from  Home. — Rev.  Mr.  Langdon's  School. — 
A  Student  of  Nature. — Boy's  Debate  on  the  Bible. — Miss  Catherine's 
Young  Ladies'  School. — His  Brief  Career  There. — His  Practical 
Jokes. — The  Umbrella  Story. — The  Grammar  Contests. — Amusing 
Anecdotes. — Back  Home 38 


CHAPTER   III. 

HIS  YOUTH  AND  COLLEGE  CAREER. 

Litchfield  Scenery. — Atmosphere  breathed  by  the  Youth. — His  Father 
removes  to  Boston. — Ambitious  to  become  a  Sailor. — Youthful 
Dreams. — Boston  Latin  School. — Mount  Pleasant  College. — Meets 
Miss  Bullard. — His  Methods  of  Study. — Learning  Elocution. — Study- 
ing Mathematics. — Interested  in  Phrenology. — Teaching  in  the  Win- 
ter Vacation. — Decides  to  become  a  Minister. — Graduates  from  Am- 
herst. — Lane  Theological  Seminary. — Editorial  Work. — Graduates, 
and  resolves  to  Marry 56 


CHAPTER  IV. 

HIS  MARRIAGE  AND  LIFE  IN  THE  WEST. 

He  Marries  and  Moves  West. — Locates  at  Lawrenceburg,  Ind. — An  Arca- 
dian Life. — Gardening. — Missionary  Work. — Editorial  Work. — Ac- 
tive in  Revivals. — Hardships  of  Western  Life. — The  Pastorate  at 
Indianapolis. — The  West  Country. — Some  Anecdotes. — His  Fame 
Spreads. — His  First  Address  in  New  York. — The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society. — Henry  C.  Bowen  hears  Him. — He  receives  an  Offer 


CONTENTS.  IX 

from  Plymouth   Church. — He   accepts   the   Position  at    $1,500   per 
Annum 73 

CHAPTER  V. 

HE   BECOMES   PASTOR  OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH. 

The  Originating  Idea. — Site  Secured. — Beecher  invited  to  Preach. — His  Ser- 
mon on  the  Occasion. — Romans  xiv.  12. — He  returns  to  Indianapolis. 
— Completion  of  the  Organization. — The  Name  Plymouth  Adopted. — 
Beecher  the  Unanimous  Vote. — He  receives  a  Call  from  Plymouth 
Church. — Hesitates,  but  Accepts. — Inauguration  of  a  Long  Term  of 
Service. — Destruction  of  the  Church  by  Fire  in  1849. — ^  is  Rebuilt. 
— A  Health  Trip  to  Europe 96 

CHAPTER  VI. 

IN  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY  CRUSADE. 

Back  from  His  Health  Trip  to  Europe. — Plymouth  Church  and  Beecher 
become  Synonymous. — The  Leading  Abolitionist. — Webster's  Atti- 
tude in  Regard  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill. — Mr.  Beecher's  Excoria- 
tion.— Black  List  of  the  Union  Safety  Committee. — He  Personally 
beseeches  Merchants  to  stand  Firm  by  Their  Principles. — How  he 
helped  Mr.  Bowen. — His  Declaration  of  Principles. — The  Fremont 
Campaign. — Wendell  Phillips  sheltered  by  Plymouth  Church. — The 
Kansas  Excitement — Hostile  Declarations  from  a  Mob. — John 
Brown's  Insurrection. — Beecher's  Address. — John  Brown's  Chains 
rattled  in  the  Tabernacle. — Few  Reporters  able  to  follow  Beecher. — 
"Cross  Fulton  Ferry  and  follow  the  Crowd." — Rose  Ward. — Rose 
Terry's  Contribution. — Sarah  is  Redeemed. — Continuing  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Crusade 140 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

IN   THE   WAR    FOR    THE    UNION. 

Recruiting. — First  Long  Island  Regiment. — The  Brooklyn  Fourteenth. — 
Pets  of  Plymouth  Church. — The  Boys  Attend  Service. — "The  Na- 
tional Flag." — An  Eloquent  Patriotic  Appeal. — Applause  in  Church 
Rebuked. — Plymouth  Church  Barracks. — The  Maine  Regiment. — 
Church  Parlors  Occupied  as  a  Hospital. — Visits  to  the  Boys  in  Camp 
— A  Welcome  Visitor. — Patriotic  Editorials. — Relations  with  Secre- 
tary Stanton. — The  National  Fast. — Freedom  of  the  People. — An 
Intellectual  Disquisition.  —  His  Visit  to  England.  —  His  Invaluable 
Services  as  a  Defender  of  the  Union. — The  Fort  Sumter  Celebration. 
— A  Pleasant  Reunion  of  Old-Time  Friends. — The  Restored  Union. — 
The  Keynote  to  Beecher's  Future  Course  in  Regard  to  the  South. — 
Startling  News.  —  Lincoln's  Assassination.  —  Beecher's  Grief. — The 
Funeral  Oration. — The  Martyr  President 169 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

HIS  VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  IN  1863. 

His  Greatest  Oratorical  Effort. — Going  Abroad  for  a  Vacation. — Three 
Months  on  the  Continent. — Reluctantly  consents  to  speak  in  Eng- 
land.— British  Sympathy  with  the  South. — Speech  at  Manchester. — 
Facing  a  British  Mob. — Unsuccessful  Attempts  to  silence  Him. — 
How  He  Triumphed. — Speaking  Plain  Truths. — Shaking  Hands  with 
an  Umbrella. — Speech  at  Glasgow. — Opposition  of  the  Blockade- 
Runners. — His  Address  at  Liverpool. — Inflammatory  Placards  on  the 
Streets. — Scenes  of  Great  Disorder. — Making  Himself  Heard — Ar- 
rival in  London. — Famous  in  Clubs  and  Social  Circles. — Prostrated 
with  Exhaustion. — Speech  in  Exeter  Hall. — A  Friendly  Audience. — 
Immense  Enthusiasm. — An  Historical  Narrative. — Change  of  Public 
Opinion. — Effect  of  Mr.  Beecher's  Speeches 185 


CONTENTS.  Xi 

CHAPTER  IX. 

HIS  CAREER  IN  POLITICS. 

His  Temperament  leads  to  Political  Affiliation. — One  of  the  Early 
Abolitionists.— Clay. — Calhoun. —  Henry  B.  Stanton. —  The  Pulpit 
and  Slavery. — Seward. — Greeley. — Buchanan. — The  Drift  of  Senti- 
ment Previous  to  the  War. — His  Views  at  the  Time. — The  Fremont 
Campaign. — The  "  Political  Parson." — He  advocates  Lincoln. — Belief 
that  His  Election  would  Precipitate  War. — Visit  to  England. — His 
Valuable  Service  as  a  Defender  of  the  Union  in  England. — Lincoln's 
Re-election. — After  the  War. — Jefferson  Davis. — President  Johnson. 
— General  Grant.— A  Southern  Tour. — "  The  North  and  South." — 
General  Fitzhugh  I^ee. — He  becomes  a  "Mugwump." — Supporting 
Cleveland. — Old  Ties  Sundered. — Civil  Service  Reform. — Beecher 
and  Curt:.s  interview  the  President. — Democratic  Resolutions 209 

CHAPTER  X. 

HIS  LITERARY  LIFE. 

Journalistic  and  Literary  Experience. — The  New  York  Independent. — 
The  Christian  Union. — Star  Papers. — List  of  His  Books. — Reluc- 
tance at  Literary  Composition. — His  First  Work,  "  Lectures  to 
Young  Men." — Success  of  the  Book. — Its  Enormous  Sale. — First 
Work  of  an  Indiana  Author  reprinted  in  England. — How  He  re- 
garded It. — Summary  of  the  Lectures. — Industry  and  Idleness. — 
Pointed  Sentences  and  Telling  Truths. — A  Forcible  Style. — Dishon- 
esty and  its  Consequences. — Evils  of  Riches  as  Such.  —  "Our  Portrait 
Gallery." — Gamblers  and  Gambling. — "  The  Strange  Woman." — The 
Theatre  and  Its  Evils. — Views  modified  in  Later  Life. — Mr.  Beecher 
and  Henry  Irving 240 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XL 

HE   WRITES   FOR   THE   LEDGER. 

Sixteen  Years  a  Contributor  to  the  New  York  Ledger. — How  His  Connec- 
tion with  the  Paper  Began.  —  "  A  Cannon-ball  in  the  Hat." — Suggest- 
ions for  a  Novel. — How  "  Norwood  "  came  to  be  Written. — Mr. 
Beecher's  Dilatoriness. — His  Outline  of  the  Story. — Mr.  Beecher's 
Fondness  for  Horses. — Riding  behind  Dexter. — Introducing  Mr.  Bon- 
ner  to  London  Punch. — Comments  on  Edward  Everett's  Death. 
— How  He  Misspelled. — Answering  Troublesome  Questions. — De- 
nial of  Current  Rumors. — Never  played  Cards. — Visiting  Bonner's 
Stables 250 

CHAPTER   XII. 

HIS   FIRST   AND   ONLY   NOVEL. 

"  Norwood  ;  or,  Life  North  and  South." — Its  Plot  and  Object. — Norwood 
and  its  Population. — Abiah  Cathcart  and  his  Peculiarities. — Rachel 
Liscomb. — A  Love-making  Scene. — How  the  Momentous  Question 
was  Asked. — The  Country  Doctor. — The  Bachelor  Uncle. — What 
constitutes  a  Gentleman. — Mr.  Beecher's  Views  regarding  Will- 
Power. — Doctoring  through  the  Imagination. — Rose  and  Alice. — 
Negro  Pete. — Polly  Marble  on  getting  Religion. — Tom  Hey  wood's 
Letter. — The  Battle  of  Gettysburg. — A  Monument  to  Surgeons  and 
Hospital  Nurses. — Marriage  Bells 268 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

HIS   ART   AS   AN   ORATOR. 

The  Greatest  Orator  of  the  Century. — Characteristics  of  His  Oratory. — Ex- 
temporizing a  Sermon. — A  Reporter's  Experience. — Power  with  an 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

Audience. — His  Great  Earnestness. — Thoughts  Rarely  committed  to 
Paper. — Doctrinal  Addresses. — Peculiarities  of  His  Lectures. — Never 
the  Same  Successively. — Weakness  in  Statistical  Matters.  — His  Mi- 
metic Skill. — His  Last  Public  Address. — Congregational  Singing. — 
Eloquence  of  His  Prayers. — Always  dealt  with  Questions  of  the  Time. 
— Where  Materials  were  Obtained. — A  Curious  Autograph. — His 
Great  Lecture  Tour  in  the  West. — The  New  York  Independent  on 
Beecher 284 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

GEMS  FROM  PULPIT  UTTERANCES. 

Examples  of  His  Oratorical  Power. — Striking  Passages  culled  from  the 
Abundance. — How  to  speak  of  the  Absent. — Ideal  Faith. — The 
True  Plan  of  Life. — "The  Church  has  been  so  Fearful  of  Amuse- 
ments that  the  Devil  has  had  the  Care  of  Them." — Majesty  in 
Anger. — Churches  as  Mutual  Insurance  Companies. — A  Babe  is  a 
Mother's  Anchor. — Overplus  of  Everything  but  Punishments. — Re- 
ligion with  some  Men  like  a  Church-bell,  to  be  Rung  only  on  Sacred 
Occasions. — The  Bible  and  its  Commentators. — Truths  of  the  Bible 
Like  Gold  in  the  Soil. — Character,  Like  Porcelain,  must  be  painted 
Before  Glazing. — A  Lie  Always  needs  a  Truth  for  a  Handle 305 

CHAPTER  XV. 

INCIDENTS  OF  HIS  LECTURING  TOURS. 

Interesting  Reminiscences  and  Anecdotes.  — Major  Pond's  Story.  — Beecher 
"Democratic  Through  and  Through." — Remembrance  of  Old  Parish- 
ioners.— The  Old  Lady  from  Indianapolis. — His  Profits  from  Lectur- 
ing.— Angry  only  Once. — Refused  to  go  to  Private  Houses. — Fond- 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

ness  for  Children. — Care  for  Two  Children  on  a  Railway  Train. — 
Never  wore  a  Silk  Hat  but  Once.  —  "Playing  Horse." — Beecher  and 
Sir  Samuel  Cunard. — Preparing  Lunch  with  His  Own  Hands. — The 
Drunken  Man  at  the  Lecture. — Fast  Riding  on  a  Train. — General 
King's  Recollections. — Beecher  as  a  Travelling  Companion. — Sleep- 
ing under  Table-cloths. — "  Mutton  or  Beef  ?  " 325 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

HORTICULTURIST   AND   FARMER. 

His  Boyhood  Gardening. — Early  Love  for  Plants  and  Animals. —His  Gar- 
den at  Lawrenceburg,  Ind. — His  Encouragement  of  Societies. — Love 
for  Domestic  Animals. — "Cackling,"  His  Last  Article. — His  Last 
Request. — The  Floral  Pall  and  Wreath. — A  Work  on  Flowers,  Fruits, 
and  Farming. — Some  Interesting  Extracts. — Mistakes  He  had  Made. 
— Winter  Nights  for  Reading. — Shiftless  Tricks. — Portrait  of  an 
Anti-Book  Farmer. — Encouragement  to  Agricultural  Writing. — Ad- 
vantages of  Farm  Education. — Spring  Work  for  Public-Spirited  Men. 

-  — The  Farm  at  Peekskill. — A  Costly  Experiment. — His  Summer  Re- 
treat.— An  Active  Farm-Hand 348 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

YALE  LECTURES  ON  PREACHING. 

Causes  of  Mr.  Beecher' s  Success  in  the  Pulpit. — Originality  of  Thought 
and  Expression. — His  Great  Power  of  Will. — How  the  Yale  Lectures 
were  Delivered. — Advice  to  Young  Preachers. — Constant  Study  of 
Nature  and  Men. — Aims  to  ennoble  Hearers. — Opposed  to  Perfunc- 
tory Preaching. — External  Forms  Derided. — "  Has  the  Pulpit  lost  its 
Power  ?  " — Why  the  Question  has  Arisen. — Personal  Emotion. — 


CONTENTS.  XV 

Earnestness,  Faith,  and  Motive  Power  Essential  to  Good  Preaching. 
— Criticism  and  Questions  Invited. — "  Show  Sermons  the  Tempta- 
tion of  the  Devil." — Preaching  Should  be  adapted  to  the  Audience. 
— Antipathy  to  Pulpits. — Health  very  Important. — Extemporaneous 
Preaching.  —  System  Absolutely  Necessary.  —  Sunday-schools  the 
Young  People's  Church. — Temptations  of  Praise. — Sorrow  an  Excel- 
lent Teacher 369 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE    LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 

Mr.  Beecher's  Reasons  for  writing  It. — The  First  Volume  published  in 
1872. — Its  High  Literary  Character. — Plans  for  the  Work. — Author- 
ities Consulted. — Spirit  in  which  the  Author  Wrote. — Meeting  Objec- 
tions.— The  Four  Gospels. — Their  Critics Accepting  Their  Truth. — 

Ministry  of  Angels. — The  Time  Ripe  for  Christ's  Appearance. — The 
Annunciation. — Characters  of  Mary  and  Joseph. — Deprecation  of 
Protestant  Reaction  from  Mary. — Herod's  Hatred. — The  Flight  into 
Egypt. — Childhood  of  Jesus. — John  and  the  Voice  in  the  Wilderness. 
— Discussion  of  Forms  of  Baptism. — Personal  Description  of  Christ. 
— Miracles  of  the  Four  Gospels. — Marriage  at  Cana. — Judean  Minis- 
try.— Lesson  at  Jacob's  Well. — Early  Labors  in  Galilee. — Discussion 
of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. — End  of  the  Volume. — Publication 
Suspended. — New  Contract  of  1886 384 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE    GREAT    SCANDAL. 

Tilton  a  Reporter  in  1851. — Attached  to  The  Independent. — His  Domestic 
Troubles. — Interviews  and  Correspondence. — The  Tripartite  Agree- 
ment.—  "Our  Mutual  Friend." — The  Church  Investigates. — Beecher 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

Exonerated. — Commencement  of  the  Libel  Suit. — Complaint  and  An- 
swer.— How  the  Jury  stood  at  the  End. — Eminent  Counsel  on  Both 
Sides. — Official  Report  of  the  Trial. — Tilton  on  the  Stand. — His 
Remarkable  Story  for  the  Prosecution. — Cross-Examination. — His 
Version  of  the  Various  Interviews  with  Beecher. — Mrs.  Victoria  C. 
Woodhull's  Connection  with  the  Case. — Frank  Moulton  and  His 
Testimony. — Other  Witnesses  for  the  Plaintiff. — The  Prosecution 
rests  Its  Case. — Rulings  of  Judge  Neilson 400 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  GREAT  SCANDAL— CONTINUED. 

The  Defence  Opens. — Mr.  Tracy's  Appeal. — What  He  proposed  to  Prove. 
— The  Alleged  Confession. — Damaging  Evidence  against  Mr.  Tilton. — 
His  Alleged  Improprieties  at  Various  Places. — Mrs.  Woodhull  Again. 
— Mr.  Moulton's  Evidence  Contradicted. — Various  Witnesses  for  the 
Defence. — Mr.  Beecher  on  the  Stand. — Sensation  in  Court. — His  Oath 
in  the  New  England  Form. — His  Acquaintance  with  the  Plaintiff. — 
Denial  of  Improper  Conduct. — The  Beecher-Moulton-Tilton  Interview. 
— Mr.  Beecher's  Explanation  of  His  Remorse.  —  Cross-Examination. 
— Mr.  Moulton  Recalled. — Letter  from  Mrs.  Tilton  to  Judge  Neilson. 
— The  Plaintiff  Recalled. — The  Summing  Up  by  the  Defence. — Judge 
Porter  and  Mr.  Evarts. — The  Prosecution  Follows. — Failure  of  the 
Jury  to  Agree. — End  of  the  Six  Months'  Trial 418 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

HOME-LIFE. 

Mr.  Beecher's  Domestic  Habits. — Early  to  Bed,  Early  to  Rise. — An  After- 
noon Nap. — Reluctant  to  leave  Home. — Plain  Fare. — No  More 
Nocturnal  Suppers. — His  Work  Hours — Preparatory  Work. — A 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

Punctilious  Correspondent. — Answers  all  Letters  with  his  Own  Hand. 
— Persevering  Industry. — His  Old  Home  on  the  Heights. — Its  Art 
Treasures. — Stuart's  Reminiscence. — Beecher's  Temperance  Princi- 
ples.— Financiering. — Valuable  Collection  of  Steel  Engravings. — De- 
scription of  His  Library  and  Methods  of  Work. — An  Amateur  Biblio- 
phile    436 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  HIS  FRIENDS. 

Rev.  C.  E.  Babb. — Early  Days  in  the  West. — The  "Pepper-Box" 
Church. — Comparative  Obscurity  until  Thirty-five  Years  Old. — 
Judge  Tourgee's  Meeting  in  Boyhood. — Sam  Payne's  Experiences. — 
Captain  W.  L.  Watson. — Mr.  Beecher  as  Chaplain. — "Our  Boys." 
— Nelson  Sizer. —  Mr.  Beecher's  Phrenological  Development. —  His 
Friendship  for  his  Old  School-mate. — Dr.  Spurzheim. — Dr.  E.  E. 
Marcy. — College  Days. — Rev.  S.  Giffard  Nelson. — Plymouth  Bethel. 
— General  Horatio  C.  King. — Mr.  Beecher's  Ideas  about  Church 
Music. —  Theatre-going. —  Private  Theatricals. —Soldiers'  Home  at 
Leavenworth,  Kan. — Professor  R.  W.  Raymond. — Mr.  Beecher  as  a 
Lapidary. — Mr.  Thomas  G.  Shearman. — Mr.  Beecher's  Charity. — His 
Sympathetic  and  Sensitive  Nature. — Mrs.  Sarah  Cole. — A  Reminis- 
cence of  Mr.  Beecher's  First  Sermon  in  Brooklyn. — Allan  Forman. — 
Mr.  Beecher  plays  Marbles  with  the  Boys 454 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

REMINISCENCES  AND  ANECDOTES. 

Fishing  with  Lampson  at  Litchfield. — Result  of  Divine  Mercy. — An  April 
Fool. — An  Old  Reporter's  Reminiscences. — A  Friend  to  Newspaper 


XVlli  CONTENTS. 

Men. — Knowing  One's  Own  Country. — The  Mood  Necessary  for 
Work — The  Leather  Promissory  Note.— Weak  Coffee.— The  Warm 
Icicle. — A  Feast  at  Waterbury. — Dr.  Hall  and  Mr.  Beecher. — Mr. 
Beecher's  Humor. — A  Total  Abstainer  at  Public  Dinners. — Mr. 
Beecher' s  Visits  to  Washington. — His  Dinner  Habits. — A  Bridal 
Substitute. — Hon.  Willard  Bartlett. — Mr.  Beecher's  Fondness  for 
Dogs. — The  Prayer  for  Delivery  from  Sudden  Death. — A  Little  Boy's 
Compliment. — Last  Appearance  in  Public  in  New  York. — Dr.  Tal- 
mage. — Mr.  Beecher  a  Good  Swimmer. — The  Debating  Society. — 
The  "Beecher  Calendar."— Rev.  Frank  Russell.— Rev.  William  M. 
Taylor. — Crossing  the  East  River  on  the  Ice. — Eating  Candy  like  a 
School-boy. — The  Railway  Lunch- Counter. — Misunderstood  in  a  Ser- 
mon.— Dead  Letters. — The  Photographs. — The  Stomach  the  Boiler  of 
the  System. — The  Giddy  Gusher's  Reminiscences. — Mr.  Beecher's 
Friendship  for  Actors. — His  Present  to  Ellen  Terry 485 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

HIS    ILLNESS    AND    DEATH. 

Mr.  Beecher's  Visit  to  England  in  1886. — Declines  to  Interfere  in  Eng- 
lish Politics. — Preaching  and  Lecturing. — Declines  a  Reception  on 
Returning  Home. — His  Last  Sermon  in  Plymouth  Church. — The 
Fatal  Stroke  of  Apoplexy. — How  the  News  was  Received. — Incidents 
of  His  Illness. — Sinking  Steadily. — His  Death  on  Tuesday,  March 
nth. — Sympathy  for  the  Family. — Private  Service  at  the  House. — 
A  Public  Funeral  without  Crape. — Floral  Decorations. — Lying  in 
State. — Services  Simultaneously  in  Five  Churches. — Testimony  of  a 
Hebrew. — The  Closing  Ceremony. — Laid  at  Rest 518 


CONTENTS.  xix 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

ESTIMATES  OF   HIS  CHARACTER. 

Tributes  from  Many  Christian  Pulpits. — All  Denominations  Honor  Him. 
— Loss  of  Beecher  Like  the  Removal  of  a  Mountain. — His  Speeches 
in  England  one  Long  Speech. — His  Fervid  Eloquence. — The  Great 
Leader  in  Pulpit  and  Republic. — Who  will  Wear  His  Mantle?— The 
Shakespeare  of  the  Christian  Pulpit. — A  Marvellous  Imagination — 
Wonderful  Knowledge  of  Character. — Great  in  the  Life  of  the  Re- 
public.— The  Most  Striking  Figure  of  Our  Time. — The  Incarnation 
of  Love. — A  Part  of  America's  Life. — Tributes  from  the  Hebrews 
of  New  York. — A  Great  Star  Below  the  Horizon. — The  Representa- 
tive of  Democracy  in  the  Pulpit. — The  End 536 


THE  LIFE  AND    WORK 

OF 

HENRY  WARD   BEECHER. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE    BEECHER   FAMILY. 

The  Genealogy. — American  Origin. — Grandmother  Hannah. — Joseph 
Beecher. — Lyman  Beecher. — His  First  Marriage. — His  First  Pastor- 
ate.— East  Hampton,  Litchfield,  Boston,  Cincinnati. — An  Active  and 
Useful  Career. — Three  Times  Married. — Father  of  Thirteen  Children. 
—A  Conspicuous  Progeny. — Catherine  Esther  Beecher. — Edward 
Beecher,  D.D. — Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe. — Mrs.  Isabella  Beecher 
Hooker. 

HENRY  WARD  BEECHER  was  born  at  Litchfield,  Conn., 
on  the  24th  day  of  June,  1813.  He  was  the  eighth 
child  of  the  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher  and  Roxanna  Foote 
Beecher,  who  had  moved  to  Litchfield  from  East  Hamp- 
ton, L.  I.,  some  three  years  earlier. 

The  circumstances  of  the  minister  and  his  family  were 
humble.  His  salary  of  eight  hundred  dollars,  not  regu- 
larly paid,  was  inadequate  to  the  maintenance  of  so  large 

2 


26        LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

a  family,  and  additional  income  was  obtained  by  taking 
to  board  young  ladies  attending  a  neighboring  school. 

The  Beecher  family  in  America  has  a  notable  history. 
The  peculiar  qualities  that  marked  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
were  characteristic  of  his  ancestry.  Hannah  Beecher,  a 
widow,  who  came  over  with  John  Davenport  in  1637, 
was  a  woman  who  possessed  the  endowments  shown  by 
the  Beechers  ever  since.  Coming  to  Boston  when  the 
theocracy  was  excited  over  the  tenets  attributed  to  Anne 
Hutchinson,  she  sympathized  with  the  Antinomian 
movement  that  was  exerting  such  a  remarkable  influence 
in  Massachusetts  Bay.  That  dispute  affected  even  the 
distribution  of  town  lots,  and  as  Mrs.  Beecher  had  been 
induced  to  emigrate  by  a  promise  of  her  husband's  share 
in  the  town  lot  distribution  in  Boston  town,  it  affected 
her  very  seriously  indeed.  Giving  up  all  idea  of  acquir- 
ing a  home  in  Massachusetts,  she  accompanied  her  pas- 
tor to  Quinnipiac,  now  New  Haven,  and  there,  under  a 
spreading  oak-tree  growing  on  Hannah  Beecher's  land, 
John  Davenport  preached  the  first  sermon  heard  in  New 
Haven,  April  15,  1638. 

Hannah  Beecher,  who  in  England  followed  the  hum- 
ble occupation  of  a  midwife,  brought  with  her  to  New 
England  her  son,  John  Beecher.  John  Beecher's  son 
Joseph  was  noted  for  his  wonderful  strength,  which  he 
proved  to  admiring  friends  by  lifting  a  barrel  of  cider 
and  drinking  from  the  bung-hole.  Joseph  Beecher's  son 


THE   BEECHER   FAMILY.  2J 

Nathaniel,  and  his  grandson  David,  were  both  able  to 
lift  a  barrel  of  cider,  but  history  is  silent  as  to  whether 
they  were  accustomed  to  drink  out  of  the  bung.  Nathan- 
iel and  David  Beecher  were  blacksmiths,  Nathaniel's  anvil 
standing  on  the  stump  of  the  old  tree  under  which  John 
Davenport  preached  his  first  sermon.  David  Beecher 
was  considered  one  of  the  best  read  men  in  New  Eng- 
land, being  particularly  well  versed  in  astronomy,  geog- 
raphy, and  history.  He  was  five  times  married.  His 
third  wife,  Esther  Lyman,  was  of  Scotch  descent,  and  was 
noted  for  her  joyous  and  hopeful  temperament,  as  well 
as  for  her  strong  mind  and  excellent  character.  She  was 
the  mother  of  Lyman  Beecher,  Henry  Ward  Beecher's 
father. 

Lyman  Beecher  was  born  October  12,  1775,  of  Esther 
Lyman,  David  Beecher's  third  wife,  who  contributed  a 
strain  of  Scotch  blood  to  the  Beecher  stock,  already  of 
English  and  Welsh  extraction.  Lyman  Beecher  was  her 
only  child,  and  she  died  of  consumption  two  days  after 
he  was  born.  He  was  such  a  puny  babe,  having  been 
prematurely  born,  that  the  nurse,  who  was  laboring  to 
save  his  mother's  life,  actually  wrapped  him  up  and  laid 
him  aside,  believing  it  useless  to  try  to  keep  him  alive  : 
"  So  you  see,"  Lyman  Beecher  writes  in  his  autobiog- 
raphy, "  it  was  but  by  a  hair's-breadth  that  I  got  a  foot- 
hold in  this  world."  He  was  raised  by  bottle  under  the 
care  of  an  aunt  in  North  Guilford.  As  a  boy  his  passion 


20         LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD    BEECHER. 

was  for  fishing.  He  couldn't  leave  off  until  the  bull- 
heads had  quit  biting.  He  developed  much  physical 
strength  among  the  Guilford  hills.  When  he  entered 
Yale  College  its  scientific  apparatus  comprised  a  great 
rusty  orrery  as  big  as  a  mill-wheel,  a  rusty  four-foot  tel- 
escope, an  air-pump  that  would  never  have  killed  a 
mouse,  a  dingy  prism,  and  an  elastic  hoop  to  illustrate 
centrifugal  force.  Slaves  were  then  owned  in  New  Eng- 
land, and  Lyman  Beecher  was  made  a  fag  to  an  upper 
classman ;  but  he  broke  in  the  windows  of  his  student 
master  at  midnight  with  brickbats,  and  broke  up  the  old 
aristocratic  college  custom. 

Lyman  Beecher  came  twice  to  death's  door.  He  tried 
to  skate  over  Long  Island  Sound,  fell  through  the  ice, 
and  saved  himself  with  great  difficulty.  The  same  year 
he  almost  died  of  scarlet  fever.  Yale  College  students 
were  then  infected  with  scepticism.  Students  called 
each  other  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  and  D'Alembert.  The 
college  church  was  almost  extinct.  The  students  idol- 
ized Tom  Paine.  Intemperance,  profanity,  gambling,  and 
licentiousness  were  common.  Lyman  Beecher  learned 
to  gamble,  won  at  first,  lost  next,  then  got  into  debt, 
and  then  took  a  week  off,  cured  himself  of  the  mania, 
and  never  touched  a  card  after  that.  Old  Dr.  Dwight 
preached  for  six  months  on  the  subject  of  infidelity,  and 
changed  the  temper  of  the  students.  Lyman  Beecher 
was  butler  of  the  college.  The  butlery  is  now  an  ob- 


THE  BEECHER   FAMILY.  29 

solete  institution.  An  English  parson  bought  for  him  a 
hogshead  of  porter,  which  he  retailed  to  the  students, 
with  cider,  metheglin,  pipes  and  tobacco,  and  by  the 
profit  thus  obtained  he  helped  to  pay  his  own  way 
through  college. 

After  his  collegiate  course  at  Yale,  he  became  pastor 
of  a  church  at  East  Hampton,  L.  I.,  where  he  received  a 
salary  of  $300  and  a  dilapidated  parsonage.  He  stirred 
the  country  with  a  sermon  that  in  1804  he  preached 
upon  the  death  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  whom  Aaron 
Burr  shot  in  a  duel.  When  in  1810  Lyman  Beecher  re- 
moved to  Litchfield  Corners  he  assailed  the  vice  of  in- 
temperance, then  so  common  in  the  land  of  the  Puritans 
that  formal  meetings  of  the  clergy  were  not  infrequently 
accompanied  by  gross  excesses.  His  sermons  were  ex- 
tempore in  form,  but  were  carefully  thought  out,  gen- 
erally while  he  was  engaged  in  active  physical  exercise. 
He  had  striking  peculiarities,  and  was  accustomed  to 
relieve  the  excitement  occasioned  by  preaching  by  play- 
ing "  Auld  Lang  Syne''  on  the  fiddle  or  dancing  the 
double-shuffle  in  his  parlor.  He  remained  at  Litchfield 
sixteen  years.  From  1826  to  1832  Dr.  Beecher  was 
pastor  of  the  Hanover  Street  Church,  Boston.  Here 
his  influence  was  so  powerful,  his  controversies  with 
Unitarianism  and  the  Finney  system  of  revivals  so 
trenchant  and  triumphant,  that  his  fame  went  abroad  in 
all  the  land  ;  and  he  seemed  to  be  the  man  of  all  others 


30        LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

to  help  build  up  a  Western  school  of  theology.  From 
1832  to  1842  he  was  president  of  the  Lane  Theological 
Seminary,  near  Cincinnati,  O.  Upon  his  retirement 
from  the  Lane  Seminary,  Dr.  Beecher  returned  to  Bos- 
ton, where  he  lived  until  1856,  when  he  removed  to 
Brooklyn,  where  his  death  occurred  in  1863,  in  the 
eighty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  Dr.  Beecher  was  one  of 
the  twelve  children  of  his  father,  David  Beecher,  and  he 
was  himself  the  father  of  thirteen  children,  of  whom 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  the  eighth.  He  was  three 
times  married,  first  in  1799,  then  in  1817,  and  again  in 
1836.  It  is  unnecessary  here  to  recapitulate  the  labors 
that  gave  him  his  fame  as  a  theologian,  orator,  writer, 
and  leader  in  great  moral  movements,  such  as  the  tem- 
perance and  anti-slavery  causes. 

Of  the  children  who  attained  distinction,  there  were 
Catherine  Esther  Beecher,  who  wrote  a  number  of 
books  upon  education  and  domestic  economy ;  Edward 
Beecher,  D.D.,  a  studious  theologian  ;  Harriet  Elizabeth 
(Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe),  author  of  "  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin ; "  Charles  Beecher,  Thomas  K.  Beecher,  and 
Mrs.  Isabella  Beecher  Hooker. 

Catherine  Esther  Beecher  was  the  eldest  of  Dr.  Ly- 
man  Beecher's  family.  She  was  born  at  East  Hampton, 
L.  I.,  September  6,  1800.  She  has  been  dead  only  a  few 
years.  Catherine  Beecher  never  married,,  her  life  being 


THE  BEECHER   FAMILY.  $1 

devoted  to  promoting  education.  She  was  for  many 
years  principal  of  a  school  at  Hartford.  Her  writings 
were  mostly  on  educational  and  domestic  subjects, 
including  a  work  on  the  "  Duties "  and  one  on  the 
"  Wrongs  "  of  women.  Her  only  work  that  is  sought 
for  nowadays  is  "  Truth  Stranger  Than  Fiction,"  which 
contains  the  story  of  the  infelicitous  love-affair  of  the 
late  Delia  Bacon,  the  originator  of  the  Bacon-Shake- 
speare controversy  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  McWhorter.  This 
book  was  never  really  published,  but  it  is  the  only  one  of 
Miss  Beecher's  books  that  will  be  remembered.  Cath- 
erine Beecher  also  wrote  the  memoirs  of  her  brother, 
George  Beecher,  a  promising  clergyman,  who  was  killed 
in  1843  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  his  own  gun. 

Edward  Beecher,  D.D.,  was  born  at  East  Hampton, 
L.  I.,  in  1804,  and  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1822. 
He  studied  theology  at  Andover  and  New  Haven,  his 
first  charge  (1826  to  1831)  being  the  Park  Street  Congre- 
gational Church,  Boston.  From  1831  to  1844  he  was 
president  of  the  Illinois  College,  at  Jacksonville.  In 
1844  he  became  pastor  of  the  Salem  Street  Church, 
Boston,  and  in  1856  he  removed  to  Galesburg,  111., 
where  he  was  for  many  years  pastor  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church.  Dr.  Beecher's  most  noteworthy  books 
are,  "  The  Conflict  of  Ages,"  1854,  and  "  The  Concord  of 
Ages,"  1860.  In  these  he  argues  that  man's  life  upon 


32         LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

earth  is  the  outgrowth  of  a  former  existence  as  well  as  a 
prelude  to  a  future  one.  The  conflict  between  good  and 
evil  which  has  been  going  on  for  ages  is  to  be  ended  with 
this  life,  and  then  all  the  conflicts  are  to  be  harmonized 
into  an  everlasting  concord. 

Harriet  Elizabeth  Beecher  was  born  at  Litchfield, 
Conn.,  June  14,  1812.  In  her  fifteenth  year  she  became 
a  teacher  in  a  school  at  Hartford  conducted  by  her  sister, 
Catherine  Beecher,  where  she  remained  until  1832,  when 
she  went  with  her  father's  family  to  Cincinnati.  There, 
in  1836,  she  was  married  to  Calvin  E.  Stowe,  recently 
deceased,  who  in  1833  had  become  professor  of  languages 
and  biblical  literature  in  the  seminary.  During  the  ear- 
lier years  of  her  married  life  Mrs.  Stowe  gave  little  atten- 
tion to  literature.  Her  time  was  devoted  to  her  house- 
hold duties  and  the  care  of  her  children.  Mrs.  Stowe's 
family  now  comprises  only  her  two  daughters — Harriet 
Beecher,  called  after  her  mother,  and  Eliza,  so  named  in 
honor  of  Professor  Stowe's  first  wife.  These  sisters  are 
twins,  and  were  the  first  born  of  Mrs.  Stowe's  children. 
Another  daughter  is  Mrs.  Allen,  an  invalid,  whose  hus- 
band is  the  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Messiah,  in  Bos- 
ton. Mrs.  Stowe  had  only  one  son,  Charles  Stowe,  a 
young  clergyman  in  Hartford.  Mrs.  Stowe's  first  book, 
"  Mayflower ;  or,  Sketches  of  the  Descendants  of  the 
Puritans,"  was  not  published  until  1849,  when  she  had 


THE  BEECHER   FAMILY.  33 

already  reached  her  thirty-seventh  year.  Although  pub- 
lished both  in  London  and  New  York,  this  volume  met 
with  no  marked  success  until  after  the  appearance  of 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  in  1852.  The  popularity  of  the 
latter  work,  as  all  the  world  knows,  was  phenomenal.  It 
was  originally  published  in  weekly  parts,  from  June  5, 
1851,  to  April  i,  1852,  in  the  New  Era,  an  anti-slavery 
paper  in  Washington,  but  it  was  not  until  its  appearance 
in  book- form  that  it  made  a  sensation.  In  eight  weeks 
after  the  appearance  of  the  first  Boston  edition,  in  two 
volumes,  100,000  copies  were  sold.  The  first  London 
edition  was  published  in  May,  1852,  but  it  was  not  large, 
the  publishers  doubting  the  popularity  of  pictures  of 
negro  life  in  England.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  it  is 
estimated  that  in  England  alone  as  many  as  a  million 
copies  had  been  sold.  In  September,  1852,  one  London 
house  gave  an  order  for  10,000  copies  daily,  which  was 
regularly  filled  for  a  month.  The  sale  in  the  United 
States  reached  200,000  within  a  year,  and  313,000  in  four 
years.  No  other  work  of  fiction  ever  came  near  it  in  cir- 
culation. Before  the  close  of  the  year  1852  it  had  been 
translated  into  French,  Italian,  Spanish,  Danish,  Swed- 
ish, Dutch,  Flemish,  German,  Polish  and  Magyar,  and 
subsequently  Portuguese,  Welsh,  Russian,  Wendish,  Wal- 
lachian,  Armenian,  Arabic,  and  Romaic  translations  were 
made.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  there  were  even  Chinese 
and  Japanese  versions.  Apart  from  the  popularity  of 


34        LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  as  a  novel,  it  has  had  exceptional 
success  as  a  play.  Almost  as  soon  as  the  story  was  pub- 
lished it  was  dramatized  for  the  Fox  family.  Mrs.  G. 
C.  Howard,  who  still  plays  Topsy,  was  the  original  Little 
Eva,  thirty-four  years  ago.  Besides  the  Fox  version 
there  have  been  many  others,  Mrs.  Stowe  preparing  one 
which  was  published  in  1855,  with  the  title  of  "The 
Christian  Slave."  Probably  no  production  in  the  whole 
history  of  literature  provoked  the  bitter  animosities  that 
resulted  from  the  publication  of  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 
It  would  be  a  hopeless  task  to  repeat  the  story  of  the 
long  controversy.  As  the  first  powerful  blow  dealt  to 
American  slavery,  as  it  existed  previous  to  1861,  the  book 
naturally  became  hateful  to  the  South,  and  Mrs.  Stowe 
was  for  a  time  the  most  hated  woman  in  the  United 
States.  This  book,  however,  gave  her  the  widest  reputa- 
tion of  any  member  of  the  Beecher  family,  and  her  fame 
as  the  author  of  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin "  will  probably 
prove  the  most  lasting. 

The  younger  members  of  the  Beecher  family  who  at- 
tained to  distinction  as  clergymen  are  Charles,  born  in 
1815,  and  Thomas  K.,  born  in  1824.  Charles  Beecher 
was  successively  pastor  of  a  church  at  Newark,  N.  J., 
and  Georgetown,  Mass.  He  edited  the  "  Life "  of  his 
father,  Lyman  Beecher,  and  was  joint  author,  with  his 
sister,  Mrs.  Stowe,  of  "  Sunny  Memories  of  Foreign 


THE   BEECHER   FAMILY.  35 

Lands."  Thomas  K.  Beecher  was  for  a  time  pastor  of 
the  New  England  Congregational  Church,  Brooklyn, 
E.  D.,  but  in  1857  he  removed  to  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  where 
he  remained  until  a  year  or  two  ago.  Another  well- 
known  member  of  the  Beecher  family  was  Mrs.  Isabella 
Beecher  Hooker,  who  was  an  active  champion  of  the 
claim  of  women  to  the  ballot.  Of  the  remaining  chil- 
dren of  Lyman  Beecher  one  died  in  infancy  and  three 
were  content  to  live  the  lives  and  perform  the  homely 
duties  of  ordinary  mortals. 

The  following  anecdote  is  told  of  the  parents  of  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  :  "  Lyman  Beecher  was  an  utterly  im- 
practicable and  erratic  person  out  of  the  pulpit,  while 
his  wife,  who  was  refined  and  well  balanced,  had  much 
of  her  time  occupied  in  undoing  the  mischief  her  husband 
had  done.  For  instance,  Lyman  Beecher  once  bought 
and  sent  home  a  bale  of  cotton,  simply  because  it  was 
cheap,  without  any  idea  or  plan  for  its  use.  His  wife,  at 
first  discomfited,  at  once  projected  the  unheard-of  luxury 
of  a  carpet,  carded  and  spun  the  cotton,  hired  it  woven, 
cut  and  sewed  it  to  fit  the  parlor,  stretched  and  nailed  it 
to  the  garret  floor,  and  brushed  it  over  with  thin  paste. 
Then  she  sent  to  her  New  York  brother  for  oil-paints, 
learned  from  an  encyclopaedia  how  to  prepare  them,  and 
then  adorned  the  carpet  with  groups  of  flowers,  imitating 
those  in  her  small  yard  and  garden.  This  illustrates  at 


36        LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

once  the  improvidence  of  the  father  and  the  useful  and 
aesthetic  turn  of  mind  of  the  mother,  who  seems  to 
have  had  high  ideals  and  great  perseverance  in  attain- 
ing excellence  under  most  unfavorable  circumstances. 
Lyman  Beecher  was  passionately  fond  of  children  ;  his 
wife  was  not.  Lyman  Beecher  was  imaginative,  impul- 
sive, and  averse  to  hard  study.  His  wife  was  calm  and 
self-possessed,  and  solved  mathematical  problems  not 
only  for  practical  purposes,  but  because  she  enjoyed  that 
kind  of  mental  effort.  Lyman  Beecher  was  trained  as  a 
dialectician  and  felt  that  he  excelled  in  argumentation, 
and  yet  his  wife,  without  any  such  training,  he  remarked, 
was  the  only  person  he  had  met  that  he  felt  was  fully 
his  equal  in  an  argument.  He  had  that  kind  of  love  for 
his  children  that  moved  him  to  caress  and  fondle  them ; 
she,  on  the  contrary,  did  not  care  to  nurse  or  tend  them, 
although  she  was  eminently  benevolent,  and  very  tender 
and  sympathetic.  In  other  words,  as  the  late  Catherine 
Beecher  once  wrote,  '  My  father  seemed  by  natural  or- 
ganization to  have  what  one  usually  deemed  the  natural 
traits  of  woman,  while  my  mother  had  some  of  those 
which  often  are  claimed  to  be  the  distinctive  attributes 
of  man.' " 

On  one  occasion  the  members  of  his  church  had,  by 
dint  of  much  effort,  raised  $100  to  buy  furniture  for  the 
parsonage.  The  money,  in  bank  bills,  was  given  to  Dr. 
Beecher,  who  crowded  it  into  his  vest-pocket  and  forgot 


THE  BEECHER   FAMILY.  37 

all  about  it.  When  sought  for  a  few  days  later,  it 
could  nowhere  be  found,  and  for  some  time  all  trace  of 
the  money  was  lost.  It  was  finally  ascertained  that  the 
absent-minded  doctor  had  dropped  the  roll  of  bills  into 
the  contribution-box  one  Sunday  morning  when  it  was 
being  circulated"  for  the  benefit  of  a  line  of  stages  that 
was  being  run  at  a  loss  because  of  its  owner's  refusal  to 
break  the  Sabbath. 

Once  Dr.  Beecher  left  his  horse  tied  to  a  tree  in  the 
woods,  and  the  poor  animal  remained  there  two  entire 
days  without  food  or  water. 


CHAPTER   II. 

HIS   BIRTH   AND   BOYHOOD. 

The  Eighth  Child.— Not  the  First  Baby,  Usually  a  Novelty  in  the  Family. 
— Mrs.  Stowe's  Reminiscences. — His  Birthplace  at  Litchfield,  Conn. 
— His  Mother's  Death. — Scene  at  the  Death-bed.  — Aunt  Esther.  — The 
Step-mother. — Henry  Never  had  a  Toy. — Doing  Family  Chores. — 
Primitive  Life  in  New  England. — Does  not  want  to  wear  an  Overcoat. 
— A,  B,  C  School. — School-girls  cut  His  Curls. — The  District  School. 
— Not  a  Bright  Pupil. — Difficulty  in  Memorizing. — No  Elocutionary 
Ability. — Sent  to  School  from  Home. — Rev.  Mr.  Langdon's  School. — 
A  Student  of  Nature. — Boy's  Debate  on  the  Bible. — Miss  Catherine's 
Young  Ladies'  School. — His  Brief  Career  There. — His  Practical 
Jokes. — The  Umbrella  Story. — The  Grammar  Contests. — Amusing 
Anecdotes. — Back  Home. 

IN  such  a  numerous  family  as  that  in  which  Henry  Ward 
arrived,  a  baby  is  not  the  novelty  and  attraction  that  the 
first-born  always  is,  and  so  throughout  most  of  his  life 
he  had  to  take  care  of  himself. 

As  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  says  in  a  sketch  of 
her  brother  Henry  Ward,  in  her  volume  "  Self-Made 
Men,"  "  The  first  child  of  a  family  is  generally  an  ob- 
ject of  high  hopes  and  anxious  and  careful  attention. 
They  are  observed,  watched,  and  if  the  parents  are  so 
disposed,  carefully  educated,  and  often  over-watched  and 
over-educated.  But  in  large  families,  as  time  rolls  on 


HIS   BIRTH   AND   BOYHOOD.  41 

and  children  multiply,  especially  to  those  in  straitened 
worldly  circumstances,  all  the  interest  of  novelty  dies 
out  before  the  advent  of  younger  children,  and  they  are 
apt  to  find  their  way  in  early  life  unwatched  and  un- 
heralded. Dr.  Beecher's  low  salary,  and  sometimes  slow 
payment,  made,  the  problem  of  feeding,  clothing,  and 
educating  a  family  of  ten  children  a  hard  one.  The 
family  was  constantly  enlarged  by  boarders— young  ladies 
attending  the  female  academy,  and  whose  board  helped 
somewhat  to  the  support  of  the  domestic  establishment, 
but  added  greatly  to  the  cares  of  the  head -manager.  The 
younger  members  of  the  Beecher  family  therefore  came 
into  existence  in  a  great  battling  household  of  older  peo- 
ple, all  going  their  separate  ways,  and  having  their  own 
grown-up  interests  to  carry.  The  child  growing  up  in 
this  busy,  active  circle  had  constantly  impressed  upon  it  a 
sense  of  personal  insignificance  as  a  child,  and  the  abso- 
lute need  of  the  virtue  of  passive  obedience  and  non-re- 
sistance as  regards  all  grown-up  people.  To  be  statedly 
washed  and  dressed  and  catechised,  got  to  school  at  reg- 
ular hours  in  the  morning,  and  to  bed  inflexibly  at  the 
earliest  possible  hour  at  night,  comprised  about  all  the 
attention  that  children  could  receive  in  these  days." 
And  so  young  Henry  Ward  did  not  receive  the  atten- 
tion and  deference  as  a  younger  child  that  would  have 
been  bestowed  on  a  first-born. 

The    house    in    Litchfield     in    which    Henry  Ward 


42         LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

Beecher  was  born,  June  24,  1813,  was  a  square  structure 
with  an  L  and  a  hipped  roof.  It  stood  in  a  yard  filled 
with  tamaracks,  elms,  maples,  and  other  trees.  The  old- 
fashioned  two-leaved  double  door  on  the  east  looked 
over  toward  Bantam  River.  Great  apple-trees  filled  the 
orchard  in  the  rear.  The  dining-room  contained  a  fa- 
mous Russian  stove,  built  so  as  to  warm  six  rooms,  includ- 
ing the  large  parlor,  where  ministers  met  and  talked  and 
smoked  until  they  could  not  see  across  the  room.  A 
fragrant  honeysuckle  shaded  the  dining-room  window. 
The  love  of  flowers  was  inherited  by  Mr.  Beecher  from 
his  mother,  who,  just  before  he  was  born,  spent  much 
time  amid  flowers  about  their  homestead.  She  was  con- 
stantly exchanging  flower-seeds  and  slips  of  shrubs.  The 
letters  of  his  mother  describe  him  as  a  merry,  clinging 
child.  "  I  write,"  she  wrote  to  her  sister  in  November, 
1814,  "  sitting  upon  my  feet,  with  my  paper  on  the  seat 
of  a  chair,  while  Henry  is  hanging  round  my  neck  and 
climbing  on  my  back,  and  Harriet  (Mrs.  Stowe)  is  beg- 
ging me  to  please  to  make  her  a  baby."  Mr.  Beecher's 
mother  was  from  a  family  that  traced  its  genealogy  back 
to  the  man  who  aided  King  Charles  to  conceal  himself  in 
the  royal  oak,  which  stood  in  a  field  of  clover.  As  a  re- 
ward he  was  knighted,  and  the  Foote  coat-of-arms  bears 
an  oak  for  its  crest  and  a  clover-leaf  for  its  quarterings. 
Mrs.  Beecher  possessed  a  fine  presence,  and  there  was 
such  dignity  and  sweetness  in  her  manner  that  the  pict- 


HIS   BIRTH   AND   BOYHOOD.  43 

ure  of  her  impressed  upon  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  mind 
when  he  was  three  year's  old  remained  the  chief  treasure 
of  his  memory  all  through  life.  She  died  on  September 
23,  1816,  when  eight  little  children,  among  them  her  son 
Henry  Ward,  were  weeping  about  her  bedside.  Her 
parting  message  to  them  was,  "  Trust  in  God,  my  chil- 
dren. He  can  do  more  for  you  than  I  have  done  or 
could  do."  Six  members  of  her  family  had  died  in  Sep- 
tember, and  it  was  always  regarded  as  a  fatal  month,  and 
she  had  a  presentiment  that  whatever  was  of  ill  omen 
would  happen  to  her  in  that  month.  It  was  her  wish 
that  all  of  her  sons  should  devote  themselves  to  the 
ministry,  and  they  all  did  so.  Lyman  Beecher  said  that 
after  her  death  his  first  sensation  was  one  of  terror,  like 
that  of  a  child  suddenly  shut  out  alone  in  the  dark.  In- 
tellectually and  morally,  he  regarded  her  as  the  better 
and  stronger  half  of  himself.  He  had  depended  upon 
her  so  much  that  once  after  her  death,  when  in  trouble, 
he  sat  down  and  "  poured  out  his  soul  "  in  a  letter  to  her. 
Henry  Ward  was  too  small  to  go  to  his  mother's  fu- 
neral. Mrs.  Stowe  once  wrote :  "  I  remember  his  golden 
curls  and  little  black  frock  as  he  frolicked  like  a  kitten  in 
the  sun  in  ignorant  joy."  They  told  him  that  they  had 
laid  his  mother  in  the  ground  and  that  she  had  gone  to 
heaven.  One  morning  he  was  discovered  with  great  zeal 
and  earnestness  digging  under  the  window.  His  sister 
Catherine  asked  him  what  he  was  doing.  Lifting  his 


44        LIFE  AND   WORK  OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

curly  head  with  great  simplicity,  he  said,  "  Why,  I'm 
going  to  heaven  to  find  ma."  The  passage  in  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin "  where  Augustine  St.  Clair  describes  his 
mother's  influence  is  a  simple  reproduction  of  the  influ- 
ence felt  by  Roxanna  Beecher's  children. 

The  mother's  place  in  the  household  was  assumed  by  a 
sister  of  his  father,  Esther  Beecher,  "  who  measured  out 
the  things  of  this  life  as  conscientiously  and  accurately 
as  if  they  were  the  outer  court  service  of  the  temple 
in  which  her  inner  soul  devoutly  adored."  The  father, 
who  was  a  vigorous,  earnest  thinker  and  preacher,  was 
absorbed  by  his  theological  studies  and  pastoral  duties, 
and  devoted  little  attention  to  the  younger  children.  In 
a  year  he  took  to  himself  a  second  wife  (Miss  Harriet 
Porter),  "  a  beautiful  lady,  very  fair,  with  bright  blue  eyes 
and  soft  auburn  hair,"  of  whom  Mr.  Beecher's  Friday 
night  auditors  have  had  many  bright  pictures.  Henry  is 
described  in  the  early  letters  of  the  family  as  a  good  boy, 
a  quick  and  apt  student ;  and  if  he  was  mischievous,  his 
pranks  were  cast  into  the  shade  by  those  of  his  brother 
Charles,  who  was  a  typical  small  boy. 

Speaking  of  the  step-mother,  "  who  took  the  station  of 
mother"  to  the  infant,  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  in 
the  work  referred  to,  observes  that  she  "  was  a  lady  of 
great  personal  elegance  and  attractiveness,  of  high  intel- 
lectual and  moral  culture,  who,  from  having  been  in  early 
life  the  much  admired  belle  in  general  society,  came  at 


HIS  BIRTH   AND   BOYHOOD.  45 

last,  from  an  impulse  of  moral  heroism  combined  with 
personal  attachment,  to  undertake  the  austere  labors 
of  a  poor  minister's  family.  She  was  a  person  to  make 
a  deep  impression  on  the  minds  of  any  children.  There 
was  a  moral  force  about  her,  a  dignity  of  demeanor,  an 
air  of  elegance  and  superior  breeding,  which  produced  a 
constant  atmosphere  of  unconscious  awe  in  the  minds  of 
the  little  ones.  Then  her  duties  were  onerous,  her  con- 
science inflexible,  and  under  the  weight  of  these  her 
stock  of  health  and  animal  spirits  sunk,  so  that  she  was 
for  the  most  part  pensive  and  depressed.  Her  nature 
and  habits  were  too  refined  and  exacting  for  the  bring- 
ing up  of  children  of  great  animal  force  and  vigor  under 
the  strain  and  pressure  of  straitened  circumstances. 
The  absurdities  and  crudenesses  incident  to  the  early 
days  of  such  children  appeared  to  her  as  serious  faults, 
and  weighed  heavily  on  her  conscience.  The  most  in- 
tense positive  religious  and  moral  influence  the  three 
little  ones  of  the  family  received  was  on  Sunday  night, 
when  it  was  her  custom  to  take  them  to  her  bedroom 
and  read  and  talk  and  pray  with  them." 

The  religious  impressions  thus  early  imbibed  by  Henry 
Ward  were  profound  and  lasting.  Children  had  not  as 
many  ways  of  enjoying  themselves  as  in  these  days  of 
cheap  children's  books  and  toys,  and  in  the  stern,  prac- 
tical life  of  New  England,  which  only  observed  one  feast 
day — Thanksgiving  Day — there  was  little  to  interest 


46       LIFE  AND  WORK   OF  HENRY   WARD  BEECHER. 

growing  children.  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe  states  that  "  the 
childhood  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  unmarked  by 
the  possession  of  a  single  child's  toy  as  a  gift  from  any 
older  person,  or  a  single  fete." 

He  was  early  called  upon  to  assume  a  portion  of  the 
domestic  routine :  he  had  to  care  for  the  domestic  ani- 
mals, to  cut  and  pile  wood  for  the  household  use,  to 
work  in  the  garden,  and  so  formed  the  magnificent 
physique  and  healthy  as  well  as  industrious  habits  which 
distinguished  him  through  life.  He  grew  up  a  rugged, 
healthy  boy.  The  long  and  severe  winters  characteristic 
of  the  mountainous  region  of  Litchfield  necessitated  the 
hardships  usually  associated  with  the  primitive  border 
towns. 

The  severe  winters  occasioned  the  water-droughts  so 
frequent  in  New  England  towns.  One  of  his  duties,  in 
his  ninth  year,  was  to  harness  the  horse  to  a  sledge  con- 
taining a  barrel  and  go  to  a  spring  three  miles  away,  on 
the  town  hill,  to  obtain  water  for  household  use.  He 
would  fill  the  barrel  by  the  slow  process  of  dipping  the 
water  from  the  spring.  His  robust  vigor  enabled  him  to 
endure  the  cold  without  wearing  an  overcoat,  and  one  of 
his  first  trials  in  life  was  in  being  compelled  by  his  step- 
mother to  wear  one.  He  had  determined  not  to  wear  an 
overcoat  the  winter  through,  but  he  reluctantly  obeyed 
his  step-mother. 

He  attended  a  primary  school  kept  in  the  village  by 


HIS   BIRTH   AND    BOYHOOD.  47 

the  Widow  Kil bourn,  on  West  Street.  Here  he  learned 
the  alphabet,  saying  his  letters  twice  a  day,  and  was  kept 
out  of  the  mischief  incidental  to  childhood  and  conse- 
quent annoyance  to  those  at  home  by  the  hours  of  at- 
tendance. He  wore  his  hair,  then  of  a  golden  hue,  in 
long  curls.  One  day  some  mischievous  girls  sawed  off, 
with  tin  shears  formed  from  fragments  obtained  from  a 
shop  near  by,  some  of  his  golden  curls,  and  on  his  step- 
mother discovering  the  fact,  she  had  his  curls  cut  short, 
greatly  to  his  joy,  as  he  thought  they  made  him  look  like 
a  girl. 

A  district  school  was  opened  near  the  parsonage  about 
the  time  he  had  mastered  the  alphabet  and  rudimentary 
spelling,  and  he  was  removed  from  the  Widow  Kilbourn's 
and  sent  there.  Here  a  school-mistress  who  did  not 
hesitate  to  use  the  birch  presided  over  a  large  attendance 
of  the  children  of  the  surrounding  farming  population, 
and  imparted  elementary  instruction  in  ciphering  and 
writing,  with  daily  readings  of  the  Bible  and  the  "  Co- 
lumbian Orator,"  then  a  sort  of  classic  in  the  schools. 
Henry  Ward  was  not  a  bright  pupil.  His  verbal  memory 
was  deficient,  he  was  extremely  diffident  and  sensitive, 
and  his  utterance,  so  eloquent  in  later  life,  was  thick  and 
indistinct,  because  of  an  enlargement  of  the  tonsils  of  the 
throat.  Indeed,  he  never  at  this  time  articulated  dis- 
tinctly, and  his  aunt  used  to  have  to  make  him  repeat  a 
message  several  times  before  she  could  comprehend  him. 


48         LIFE  AND    WORK   OF    HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

He  experienced  great  difficulty  in  committing  the 
catechism  to  memory,  and  every  Sunday  morning  he 
was  in  trouble  in  consequence.  With  his  hearty  health 
and  temperament  these  passing  troubles  sat  lightly  upon 
him,  and  none  of  them  bothered  themselves  much  about 
him,  since  he  was  never  sick,  and  his  father  was  engrossed 
by  his  pastoral  duties,  and  all  his  paternal  hopes  were 
centred  in  the  elder  brother,  who  was  now  attending 
college. 

In  his  tenth  year,  having  graduated  from  the  district 
school — a  poor  writer  and  a  miserable  speller — he  was 
sent  by  his  father  to  a  private  school  kept  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Langdon  at  Bethlehem,  a  neighboring  town,  to 
enter  upon  a  more  elaborate  system  of  preparatory 
studies. 

An  incident  of  his  admission  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Langdon's 
school  may  be  narrated  as  the  indication  that  even  at 
this  early  age  he  had  the  courage  to  defend  his  convic- 
tions. One  of  the  older  boys  in  the  school  obtained  pos- 
session of  a  copy  of  Paine's  "  Age  of  Reason,"  and  was 
in  the  habit  of  quoting  therefrom  in  arguments  against 
the  Bible,  which  the  others  did  not  consider  themselves 
able  to  refute.  Young  Beecher  found  it  necessary  to 
prepare  for  engaging  in  the  controversy  which  he  pro- 
posed to  himself  to  wage  in  defence  of  the  Bible.  He 
had  recourse  to  Watson's  "Apology,"  which  he  studied 
in  private.  When  thoroughly  ready  he  challenged  the 


HIS  BIRTH  AND   BOYHOOD.  49 

champion  of  Paine  to  a  debate  before  their  respective  fol- 
lowers. He  completely  vanquished  the  elder  boy.  His 
victory  was  acknowledged  by  all,  and  has  never  been 
questioned. 

He  was  not  the  student,  however,  that  the  incident 
would  indicate.  He  was  more  partial  to  gunning  in  the 
surrounding  woods  than  to  his  books.  It  is  related  that 
in  his  studious  observations  of  the  trees  and  the  leaves, 
and  the  habits  of  their  feathery  inhabitants,  he  seldom 
shot  anything  with  the  gun  he  carried  on  his  shoulder. 
Generally  unprepared  in  his  studies,  he  adopted  all  the 
usual  school-boy  ruses  to  escape  punishment,  by  reading 
answers  surreptitiously  from  his  hat,  or  accepting  sly 
assistance  from  his  more  studious  comrades,  always  ready 
and  willing  to  help  the  good-natured  and  amusing  lag- 
gard. He  remained  a  year  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Langdon 
without  making  any  recognizable  progress  in  his  book- 
studies. 

In  1823  Miss  Catherine  Beecher  went  to  Hartford  and 
established  a  select  school  for  girls,  with  her  sister  Har- 
riet, then  twelve  years  old,  as  a  pupil  as  well  as  as- 
sistant. She  commenced  the  Latin  grammar  only  a 
fortnight  before  she  began  to  teach  it  herself.  Her 
brother,  Edward  Beecher,  was  at  this  time  at  the  head 
of  the  Hartford  Latin  School,  and  boarded  in  the  same 
family  with  his  sisters,  and  she  studied  with  him  while 
she  taught  her  pupils.  Surrounded  by  young  life,  en- 


50        LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

tfiusiastic  in  study  and  teaching,  Miss  Beecher  recovered 
that  buoyant  cheerfulness  which  always  characterized 
her. 

She  was  at  this  time  in  her  twenty-third  year,  and  had 
a  ready  sympathy  with  all  the  feelings  of  the  young  ;  she 
encouraged  her  scholars  to  talk  freely  with  her  of  the 
subjects  they  studied,  and  the  recitation  hours  were 
often  enlivened  by  wit  and  pleasantry.  She  had  under 
her  care  some  of  the  brightest  and  most  receptive  of 
minds,  and  the  results,  as  shown  in  the  yearly  exhibi- 
tions, to  which  the  parents  and  friends  were  invited,  were 
quite  exciting.  Latin  and  English  compositions — versi- 
fied translations  from  Virgil's  "  Eclogues,"  and  Ovid's 
"  Metamorphoses  " — astonished  those  who  had  not  been 
in  the  habit  of  expecting  such  things  in  a  female  school. 
The  school  increased  rapidly;  pupils  were  drawn  in  from 
abroad,  and  it  became  difficult  to  find  a  place  to  con- 
tain the  numbers  to  be  taught.  The  father,  in  sending 
his  daughter  Harriet,  concluded  to  also  place  Henry 
under  the  tutelage  of  his  elder  sister,  probably  wishing  to 
keep  the  family  as  united  as  possible — and  here,  near  by 
to  the  nest,  could  be  four  of  the  brood.  Between  the  two 
youngsters,  Miss  Catherine  and  Mr.  Edward  must  have 
had  considerable  trouble.  Rose  Terry  Cooke,  in  her  in- 
teresting account  of  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  says  : 

"  To  this  sister's  care  and  teaching  Harriet,  now  twelve 
years  old,  was  confided.  No  more  scrambles  now  over 


HIS   BIRTH   AND   BOYHOOD.  5 1 

hill  and  dale  after  huckleberries  or  honeysuckle  apples ; 
no  more  nutting  frolics  or  fishing  excursions  to  Bantam 
Pond;  apple-cuttings,,, wood-spells,  strawberry-hunts,  and 
expeditions  after  winter-green  were  all  over;  she  must 
'  buckle-down '  now  to  serious  work  without  these  alle- 
viations ;  and  besides  her  own  studies  she  taught  Latin 
and  translated  Virgil  into  English  heroic  verse,  becoming 
in  due  time  an  assistant  pupil  in  the  school  then  and  still 
known  as  the  Hartford  Female  Seminary,  and  flourish- 
ing for  many  years  after  Miss  Beecher  left  it  under  the 
rule  of  the  same  John  P.  Brace  who  was  previously  her 
teacher." 

Henry  did  not  achieve  any  better  record  for  scholar- 
ship under  his  sister's  tuition  than  he  had  at  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Langdon's  schools.  His  sisters  must  have  had  a 
troublesome  time  with  him,  as  he  was  more  given  to  prac- 
tical joking  than  to  study.  It  is  related  that  one  rainy 
day  he  opened  and  placed  the  umbrellas  belonging  to  the 
girls  in  a  row,  one  above  the  other,  on  the  stairs  leading 
up  to  the  school-room,  in  an  upper  story  of  the  house, 
so  that  when  the  door  opened  all  were  precipitated  into 
the  street,  to  the  dismay  of  the  new  arrival  and  the  mer- 
riment of  the  school. 

There  were  two  divisions  in  grammar,  with  leaders, 
who  would  select  their  sides  and  engage  in  a  competitive 
review.  Henry  was  so  deficient  in  his  knowledge  of 
grammar  that  he  was  always  the  last  chosen — Hobson's 


52        LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

choice,  in  fact.  Mrs.  Stowe  describes  one  of  these  occa- 
sions : 

"  The  fair  leader  on  one  of  these  divisions  took  the  boy 
aside  to  a  private  apartment,  to  put  into  him,  with  female 
tact  and  insinuation,  those  definitions  and  distinctions  on 
which  the  honor  of  the  class  depended. 

"  '  Now,  Henry,  A  is  the  definite  article,  you  see,  and 
must  be  used  only  with  a  singular  noun.  You  can  say 
a  man — but  you  can't  say  a  men,  can  you  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  I  can  say  Amen,  too,'  was  the  ready  rejoinder. 
'  Father  says  it  always  at  the  end  of  his  prayers.' 

"  '  Come,  Henry,  now  don't  be  joking ;  now  decline 
He.' 

"  '  Nominative  he,  possessive  his,  objective  him.' 

"  '  You  see,  His  is  possessive.  Now  you  can  say  His 
book — but  you  can't  say  Him  book.' 

" '  Yes,  I  do  say  Hymn  book  too,'  said  the  impracti- 
cable scholar,  with  a  quizzical  twinkle.  Each  one  of  these 
sallies  made  his  young  teacher  laugh,  which  was  the  vic- 
tory he  wanted. 

" '  But  now,  Henry,  seriously,  just  attend  to  the  active 
and  passive  voice.  Now,  "  I  strike "  is  active,  you  see, 
because  if  you  strike  you  do  something.  But  "  I  am 
struck  "  is  passive,  because  if  you  are  struck  you  don't  do 
anything,  do  you  ?  ' 

" '  Yes,  I  do— I  strike  back  again.'  " 

Mrs.  Stowe  also  relates : 


HIS   BIRTH  AND   BOYHOOD.  53 

"  Being  of  a  somewhat  frisky  nature,  his  sister  appoint- 
ed his  seat  at  her  elbow  when  she  heard  her  classes.  A 
class  in  Natural  Philosophy,  not  very  well  prepared,  was 
stumbling  through  the  theory  of  the  tides. 

"  '  I  can  explain  that,'  said  Henry.  '  Well,  you  see 
the  sun,  he  catches  hold  of  the  moon  and  pulls  her,  and 
she  catches  hold  of  the  sea  and  pulls  that,  and  this 
makes  the  spring  tides.' 

"  '  But  what  makes  the  neap  tides  ?  ' 

"  '  Oh,  that's  when  the  sun  stops  to  spit  on  his  hands,' 
was  the  brisk  rejoinder." 

Henry  was  sent  back  home  after  a  six  months'  sojourn 
with  his  sister,  probably  as  a  hopeless  case.  Miss 
Beecher  continued  her  school,  and  became  a  resident. 
Miss  Beecher  had  always  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  the 
leading  ladies  of  Hartford,  and  when  at  the  end  of  four 
years  she  drew  the  plan  of  the  Hartford  Female  Sem- 
inary, it  was  by  their  influence  that  the  first  gentlemen 
in  Hartford  subscribed  money  to  purchase  the  land  and 
erect  such  a  building  as  she  desired,  with  a  large  hall  for 
study  and  general  exercises,  eight  recitation-rooms,  and 
a  room  for  chemical  laboratory  and  lectures.  A  band 
of  eight  teachers,  each  devoted  to  some  particular  de- 
partment, carried  on  the  course  of  study. 

In  a  recent  interview  Rev.  Edward  Beecher  told  the 
following  incident  about  Henry's  boyhood : 

He  was  always  of  an  impulsive,  warm-hearted,  imagi- 


54        LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

native  nature,  and  very  ambitious.  He  would  excel  his 
comrades  if  he  could,  and  especially  so  in  athletic  sports. 

He  said  that  one  day  young  Henry  was  playing  "  fol- 
low the  leader."  As  usual  he  was  the  leader.  He  ran 
at  breakneck  speed  toward  the  river,  jumping  posts  and 
turning  somersaults,  which  every  urchin  in  the  line  had 
to  imitate.  When  he  reached  the  river  he  jumped  from 
the  dock  to  a  vessel  that  was  moored  a  few  feet  off,  but 
all  the  boys  followed  him.  He  climbed  the  rigging  and 
slid  down  ropes,  but  his  playmates  still  succeeded  in 
imitating  him.  He  ran  out  on  the  bowsprit,  but  the 
boys  followed. 

"  Harry  would  not  let  them  equal  him,"  said  his  broth- 
er, who  is  ten  years  his  senior.  "And  what  did  that  hot- 
headed boy  do  but  jump  right  into  the  water,  where  he 
almost  drowned.  The  other  boys  admitted  that  they 
were  beaten." 

Mr.  Edward  Beecher  said  that  his  brother's  athletic 
tendencies  were  confined  to  healthy  and  manly  out-door 
sports.  He  was  no  hand  for  exercising  in  a  gymnasium. 
He  had  a  strong  constitution  and  was  built  like  an 
athlete. 

"  What  was  Mr.  Beecher's  position  on  the  temperance 
question  ?  " 

"  He  believed  that  for  a  man  to  deny  himself  the  use 
of  wines  or  spirits  for  the  sake  of  a  weaker  friend  was 
praiseworthy  and  even  admirable.  But  provided  the 


HIS   BIRTH   AND   BOYHOOD.  55 

wine  was  genuine  and  good,  he  did  not  believe  it  wrong 
for  a  man  to  drink  a  glass  now  and  then." 

Mr.  Edward  Beecher  said  that  Henry  Ward  was  the 
one  of  his  brothers  with  whom  he  was  least  acquainted. 
William  and  Thomas  K.  were  nearer  his  own  age. 
Charles,  Henry's  next  youngest  brother,  he  had  fitted 
for  college.  But  as  for  Henry  himself,  he  was  of  an  in- 
dependent turn,  and  studied  only  such  courses  as  he  fan- 
cied, or  thought  would  increase  his  power  as  an  orator. 
He  saw  his  brother  but  little  after  he  was  seventeen 
years  old. 


CHAPTER  III. 

HIS  YOUTH  AND  COLLEGE  CAREER. 

Litchfield  Scenery. — Atmosphere  breathed  by  the  Youth. — His  Father 
removes  to  Boston. — Ambitious  to  become  a  Sailor. — Youthful 
Dreams. — Boston  Latin  School. — Mount  Pleasant  College. — Meets 
Miss  Bullard. — His  Methods  of  Study. — Learning  Elocution. — Study- 
ing Mathematics. — Interested  in  Phrenology. — Teaching  in  the  Win- 
ter Vacation. — Decides  to  become  a  Minister. — Graduates  from  Am- 
herst. — Lane  Theological  Seminary. — Editorial  Work. — Graduates, 
and  resolves  to  Marry. 

THE  scenery  surrounding  the  Litchfield  home  made 
nature  a  great  school-teacher.  The  round,  blue  head  of 
Mount  Tom  marked  the  far-off  horizon,  and  through  a 
sea  of  distant  pine-groves  the  two  sheets  of  water  known 
as  the  Great  and  Little  Ponds  gleamed  out.  It  was  the 
village  habit  then  to  love  and  notice  nature — the  influ- 
ence of  the  wonderful  sunsets,  that  Mrs.  Stowe  says 
"  used  to  burn  themselves  out  amid  voluminous  wreath- 
ings  or  castellated  turrets  of  clouds — vaporous  pageantry 
proper  to  a  mountainous  region."  With  but  few  books 
within  reach,  and  only  the  church  for  mental  diversion, 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  as  a  boy,  opened  his  mind  to  the 
fullest  extent  to  the  beauties  of  nature.  His  eye  was 
educated  in  color  by  the  changes  of  the  verdure  from  the 


HIS  YOUTH  AND   COLLEGE   CAREER.  57 

tints  of  spring  green  that,  after  a  long  winter,  spread  over 
the  rich  growth  of  forest  trees  on  the  uplands  into  the 
deepening  hues  of  summer,  and  then  into  a  blaze  of 
glory  in  autumn.  He  gathered  the  pink-shell  blossoms 
of  trailing  arbutus  in  the  woods,  and  picked  violets  that 
were  blue,  and  white,  and  yellow,  and  hunted  for  wild 
anemone,  crow's-foot,  and  blood-root.  The  memory  of 
those  sylvan  rambles,  and  his  walks  along  the  tangled 
and  rocky  banks  of  the  clear  Bantam  River,  colored 
many  of  his  utterances  in  later  years.  He  and  his  imag- 
inative sister,  Mrs.  Stowe,  used  to  speculate  whether  in 
the  distant  northern  groves  there  were  altars  to  Apollo, 
where  white-robed  shepherds  played  on  ivory  flutes,  and 
shepherdesses  brought  garlands  to  hang  around  the 
shrines.  Mr.  Beecher  gained  an  education  in  those  pas- 
toral scenes  that  never  failed  to  be  a  resource  to  him. 

The  exuberance  of  spirit  of  Lyman  Beecher  kept  the 
family  on  the  qui  vive  and  influenced  all  the  children.  He 
would  teach  his  boys  theology  as  they  caught  perch  and 
pickerel,  literature  as  they  gathered  sweet-flag  or  winter- 
green,  mythology  as  they  cut  up  apples  before  a  blazing 
fire  to  make  the  annual  barrel  of  cider-apple  sauce,  and 
as  they  piled  up  wood  he  related  tales  from  Walter  Scott. 
There  was  hardly  a  bound  to  Lyman  Beecher's  mental 
energy.  He  wanted  to  see  Byron  and  give  him  his  views 
of  religious  thought,  and  help  him  out  of  his  troubles. 
He  had  intense  admiration  for  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  and 


$8        LIFE  AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

wanted  him  to  succeed,  and  when  Napoleon  was  at  St. 
Helena,  Lyman  Beecher  was  greatly  exercised  about  the 
condition  of  the  emperor's  soul.  The  descendants  of 
Lyman  Beecher  were  strongly  marked  with  this  desire 
for  regulating  the  affairs  of  the  universe,  for  whose  proper 
conduct  they  seemed  to  have  a  sense  of  responsibility. 

Mr.  Beecher  learned  music  at  home,  for  his  sisters 
played  upon  the  piano,  his  father  performed  upon  the 
violin,  and  his  brothers,  Edward  and  William,  played  the 
flute.  It  delighted  the  boys  when  Lyman  Beecher  tuned 
his  old  violin  for  the  contra-dance,  "  Go  to  the  Devil 
and  Shake  Yourself,"  and  although  he  tried  hard  to  mas- 
ter "Money  Musk,"  and  "  College  Hornpipe,"  he  invari- 
ably broke  away  into  "  Bonnie  Doon,"  and  "  Mary's 
Dream,"  in  playing  which  he  was  proficient. 

Henry  Ward  did  not  remain  long  in  the  mountain 
home  of  his  birth,  but  was  soon  after  his  return  from 
Hartford  taken  to  Boston  by  the  removal  of  his  father 
to  that  city. 

In  1826,  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher,  after  a  long  and  anx- 
ious self-communing,  made  up  his  mind  that  he  had  no 
right  to  live  longer  in  debt  for  want  of  a  sufficient  salary. 
It  has  always  been  the  disgrace  of  New  England  that  her 
country  ministers  have  had  to  starve  or  accept  charity. 
Many  of  them  have  been  forced  to  eke  out  the  pittance 
allotted  to  them  by  farming  on  week-days  instead  of 
studying,  or  by  writing  school-books  or  compiling  histo- 


HIS   YOUTH  AND   COLLEGE  CAREER.  59 

ries,  or  in  later  days  taking  agencies  for  popular  articles. 
But  none  of  these  things  were  available  to  Mr.  Beecher ; 
he  believed  it  his  duty  to  devote  all  his  time  and  strength, 
just  as  far  as  it  could  be  spared  from  the  absolute  needs 
of  rest  or  relaxation,  to  the  work  of  the  ministry ;  and 
the  father  of  eleven  children  could  not,  in  any  case,  have 
provided  that  hearty  and  hungry  flock  with  food  and 
clothing  for  $800  a  year. 

He  took  no  counsel  of  man,  but  in  the  silence  of  his 
study  made  up  his  mind  to  leave  Litchfield  as  soon  as 
he  could  find  a  more  remunerative  parish,  and  twelve 
hours  after  a  letter  reached  him,  inviting  him  to  the 
Hanover  Street  Church,  Boston,  Mass. 

Henry,  in  his  twelfth  year,  did  not  enjoy  the  change 
from  the  freedom  of  the  country  and  the  panorama  of 
nature  to  the  closely  built  and  populous  city  of  Boston, 
where  his  father  took  him  as  well  as  his  youngest 
brother ;  he  would  have  preferred  the  country  to  the 
city,  but  he  had  no  choice. 

He  was  sent  to  the  Boston  Latin  School,  and  for  a 
time  applied  himself  diligently  to  his  studies.  Accord- 
ing to  Mrs.  Stowe,  "  he  grew  gloomy  and  moody,  rest- 
less and  irritable,"  and  his  father  arranged  for  him  a 
course  of  biographical  reading — the  voyages  of  Captain 
Cook  and  the  life  of  Nelson — and  the  youthful  student 
became  ambitious  of  an  active  life  of  enterprise  and  ad- 
venture. He  wanted  to  go  to  sea. 
3* 


\ 

60        LIFE  AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

Mrs.  Stowe  says :  "  He  made  up  his  little  bundle, 
walked  to  the  wharf  and  talked  with  sailors  and  cap- 
tains, hovered  irresolute  on  the  verge  of  voyages, 
never  quite  able  to  grieve  his  father  by  a  sudden  depart- 
ure. At  last  he  wrote  a  letter  announcing  to  a  brother 
that  he  could  and  would  remain  no  longer  at  school — 
that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  for  the  sea ;  that  if  not 
permitted  to  go,  he  should  go  without  permission.  This 
letter  was  designedly  dropped  where  his  father  picked 
it  up.  Dr.  Beecher  put  it  in  his  pocket  and  said  nothing 
for  the  moment,  but  the  next  day  asked  Henry  to  help 
him  saw  wood.  Now  the  wood-pile  was  the  doctor's 
private  debating-ground,  and  Henry  felt  complimented 
by  the  invitation,  as  implying  manly  companionship." 

Mrs.  Stowe  continues  the  narrative  of  a  very  important 
point  in  the  subsequent  career  of  her  illustrious  brother  : 

"  Let  us  see,"  says  the  doctor ;  "  Henry,  how  old  are 
you  ?  " 

"  Almost  fourteen  !  " 

"  Bless  me  !  how  boys  do  grow !  Why,  it's  almost 
time  to  be  thinking  what  you  are  going  to  do.  Have 
you  ever  thought  ?  " 

"  Yes — I  want  to  go  to  sea." 

"  To  sea  !  Of  all  things.  Well,  well  !  after  all,  why 
not  ? — of  course  you  don't  want  to  be  a  common  sailor  ? 
You  want  to  get  into  the  navy  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  that's  what  I  want." 


^  ivllF^iP 


HIS   YOUTH   AND   COLLEGE   CAREER.  63 

"  But  not  merely  as  a  common  sailor,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,  I  want  to  be  a  midshipman,  and  after  that 
commodore." 

"  I  see,"  said  the  doctor,  cheerfully. 

"  Well,  Henry,  in  order  for  that,  you  know,  you  must 
begin  a  course  of  mathematics,  and  study  navigation  and 
all  that." 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  am  ready." 

"  Well,  then,  I'll  send  you  up  to  Amherst  next  week, 
to  Mount  Pleasant,  and  there  you'll  begin  your  prepara- 
tory studies,  and  if  you  are  well  prepared,  I  promise  I  can 
make  interest  to  get  you  an  appointment." 

And  so  he  went  to  Mount  Pleasant,  in  Amherst,  Mass., 
and  Dr.  Beecher  said,  shrewdly  :  "  I  shall  have  that  boy 
in  the  ministry  yet." 

At  Amherst  Henry  Ward  labored  perseveringly,  with 
his  face  toward  the  navy,  but  at  the  close  of  the  year  he 
became  impressed  at  a  religious  revival,  and  his  scheme 
of  sailing  the  blue  ocean  vanished.  He  entered  into  the 
study  of  English  classics  with  zeal,  and  he  pondered  the 
works  of  the  best  English  writers  with  never-ceasing  de- 
light, but  he  was  not  attracted  by  Greek  or  Latin  classics 
or  mathematics.  He  then  became  a  reformer,  opposed 
all  of  the  habitual  irregularities  and  dissipations  of  stu- 
dents, and  set  his  face  against  the  use  of  tobacco  and 
liquors.  His  father's  eccentricities  began  to  crop  out  in  his 
student  life.  His  lack  of  order  was  conspicuous,  but  he 


64        LIFE  AND  WORK  OF  HENRY  WARD   BEECHER. 

always  claimed  that  there  was  as  much  method  in  his 
disorder  as  in  the  regular  habits  of  his  more  methodical 
comrades.  He  tossed  books,  papers,  memoranda,  boots, 
and  articles  of  clothing  in  one  corner  of  his  room,  and 
when  in  search  of  anything  he  got  down  on  his  knees  and 
pawed  over  the  mass.  He  had  a  circular  table  made, 
with  a  hole  large  enough  in  the  centre  to  admit  his  body. 
He  sat  on  a  low  stool  with  a  turning  top,  with  his  head 
and  half  of  his  body  through  the  hole  in  the  table,  and 
when  he  changed  from  one  work  to  another  he  would 
spin  around  on  the  stool  and  thus  bring  himself  to  an- 
other part  of  the  table.  He  was  a  poor  student  in 
mathematics,  and  finished  this  part  of  his  course  with 
difficulty.  During  two  winter  vacations  he  taught  school 
in  Whitinsville,  using  the  money  thus  obtained  for  the 
purchase  of  a  library. 

He  had  pursued  a  course  of  elocution  under  Professor 
John  E.  Lovell,  who  succeeded  in  developing  his  voice, 
naturally  thick  and  husky,  and  at  the  close  of  the  first 
year  he  was  recognized  as  an  attractive  and  fluent  speaker. 

In  the  Christian  Union  of  July  14,  1880,  Mr.  Beecher 
wrote  : 

"  I  had  from  childhood  a  thickness  of  speech  arising 
from  a  large  palate,  so  that  when  a  boy  I  used  to  be 
laughed  at  for  talking  as  if  I  had  pudding  in  my  mouth. 
When  I  went  to  Amherst,  I  was  fortunate  in  passing  into 
the  hands  of  John  Lovell,  a  teacher  of  elocution ;  and  a 


HIS  YOUTH  AND   COLLEGE   CAREER.  65 

better  teacher  for  my  purpose  I  cannot  conceive.  His 
system  consisted  in  drill,  or  the  thorough  practice  of  in- 
flections by  the  voice,  of  gesture,  posture,  and  articula- 
tion. Sometimes  I  was  a  whole  hour  practising  my 
voice  on  a  word  like  'justice.' 

"  I  would  have  to  take  a  posture,  frequently  at  a  mark 
chalked  on  the  floor.  Then  we  would  go  through  all  the 
gestures,  exercising  each  movement  of  the  arm,  and  the 
throwing  open  the  hand.  All  gestures  except  those  of 
precision  go  in  curves,  the  arm  rising  from  the  side,  com- 
ing to  the  front,  turning  to  the  left  or  right.  I  was 
drilled  as  to  how  far  the  arm  should  come  forward,  where 
it  should  start  from,  how  far  go  back,  and  under  what 
circumstances  these  movements  should  be  made.  It  was 
drill,  drill,  drill,  until  the  motions  almost  became  a  sec- 
ond nature.  Now  I  never  know  what  movement  I  shall 
make.  My  gestures  are  natural,  because  this  drill  made 
them  natural  to  me.  The  only  method  of  acquiring  an 
effective  education  is  by  practice  of  not  less  than  an  hour 
a  day,  until  the  student  has  his  voice  and  himself  thor- 
oughly subdued,  and  trained  to  right  expression." 

There  was  a  religious  revival  in  the  school,  and  Henry 
took  a  prominent  part,  always  being  imbued  with  a 
strong  religious  sentiment,  the  result  of  his  early  home 
training.  Going  to  Boston  shortly  afterward,  at  his 
father's  request,  to  attend  a  great  communion  season, 
Henry  avowed,  to  the  joy  of  all,  his  intention  of  becom- 


66        LIFE   AND   WORK    OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ing  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  Returning  to  Amherst, 
he  continued  his  academical  studies  three  years  longer, 
for  the  purpose  of  entering  college.  He  was  assisted 
greatly  in  his  mathematical  studies  by  his  teacher  and 
room-mate,  a  young  man  from  West  Point,  named  Fitz- 
gerald, whom  he  ever  pleasantly  remembered.  He  was 
prepared  to  enter  as  a  sophomore,  but  his  father  decided  he 
should  enter  as  a  freshman.  He  now  became  a  hard  stu- 
dent, devoting  himself  especially  to  the  English  classics, 
and  carefully  developing  his  powers  as  an  orator.  In  all 
debates  he  always  took  the  part  of  a  reformer,  and  al- 
ways espoused  the  side  of  law  and  order.  He  was  active 
in  founding  a  society  which  should  cultivate  merriment 
and  fun,  but  which  should  condemn  and  discountenance 
"  scraping"  in  the  lecture-rooms,  hazing  of  students,  every 
form  of  secret  vice,  gambling  and  drinking,  and  encourage 
temperance  and  purity  of  character.  He  became  much 
interested  in  phrenology  and  physiology,  and  Mr.  Fowler, 
since  famous  as  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Fowler 
&  Wells,  was  a  fellow-student.  This  led  to  his  studying 
Combe,  Spurzheim,  and  the  Scotch  metaphysical  school. 
The  subject  of  phrenology,  which  he  never  considered 
a  perfected  science,  always  possessed  an  interest  for  him. 
He  obtained  the  money  to  purchase  the  books  his  studies 
and  inclinations  led  him  to  read  by  teaching  rural  schools 
during  the  long  winter  vacations,  like  many  others  in 
his  class.  Graduating  from  Amherst  in  1834,  he  went 


HIS   YOUTH   AND    COLLEGE   CAREER.  67 

to  Cincinnati  to  his  father,  who  was  then  president  of 
Lane  Theological  Seminary,  to  complete  his  theological 
training.  The  abolition  excitement  at  Lane  Seminary 
resulted  in  the  departure  of  a  whole  class  of  thirty  stu- 
dents, and  there  was  a  great  theological  conflict  waging 
in  the  institution  of  learning.  Henry  joined  his  father 
in  the  battle,  developing  the  originality  and  independence 
of  views  that  always  characterized  him.  Cincinnati,  re- 
moved from  slave  territory  only  by  the  width  of  the 
Ohio  River,  was  convulsed  with  the  contest  between  the 
slave-holders  and  Abolitionists.  Steamboats,  the  decks 
of  which  were  covered  with  chained  gangs  of  slaves, 
passed  daily  by  the  wharves,  while  the  Ohio  River, 
where  it  passed  between  slave  and  free  territory,  was 
lined  with  the  headquarters  of  Abolitionist  societies 
bent  on  aiding  slaves  to  escape.  The  air  was  electrical 
with  excitement,  and  the  young  man,  thrilling  at  the 
prospect  of  the  coming  fight,  felt  his  ardor  redoubled 
before  the  obstacles  and  opposition  that  confronted  all 
Abolitionists.  In  1836  he  appeared  first  publicly  as  the 
champion  of  the  anti-slavery  cause.  The  utterances  of 
The  Philanthropist,  an  anti-slavery  paper  in  Cincinnati, 
edited  by  James  G.  Birney,  a  slave-holder  who  had 
emancipated  his  slaves,  became  offensive  to  the  strong 
pro-slavery  element.  A  riot  broke  out,  and  for  a  week 
Cincinnati  was  overrun  by  a  mob  headed  by  Kentucky 
slave-holders.  Young  Beecher  asked  to  be  sworn  in  as 


68        LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

one  of  the  special  policemen,  and  armed  with  a  pistol 
patrolled  the  streets.  At  this  time,  in  the  absence  of 
Mr.  Brainard,  he  was  for  a  few  months  occupying  the 
editorial  chair  in  the  office  of  the  Cincinnati  Journal,  the 
organ  of  the  New  School  Presbyterian  Church,  and  his 
indignation  over  the  Birney  riot  found  vent  in  some 
pungent  editorials  which  produced  a  marked  effect. 

While  at  Cincinnati  he  formed  an  intimacy  with  Pro- 
fessor C.  E.  Stowe,  who  afterward  married  his  sister  Har- 
riet, who  had  left  Hartford  and  now  resided  with  her  fa- 
ther. Upon  finishing  his  studies  in  1836,  he  started  to  New 
England  to  marry  Miss  Eunice  Bullard.  When  his  father 
remonstrated  with  him  for  marrying  so  young,  he  said  : 

"  I  will  marry  her  if  we  have  only  the  north  side  of  a 
corn-cob  to  live  on." 

Miss  Bullard  was  the  sister  of  Asa  Bullard,  of  West 
Sutton,  Mass.,  who  was  a  fellow-student  of  Mr.  Beecher's 
at  Amherst  College,  and  it  was  during  his  collegiate 
career  that  the  future  pastor  of  Plymouth  first  met  the 
lady  during  a  vacation  which  he  spent  at  her  father's 
residence.  Dr.  Bullard  had  a  large  family  of  grown-up 
children.  He  was  a  man  of  some  wealth,  and  the  most 
prominent  member  of  the  most  prominent  church  in  the 
place — the  Congregationalist.  All  his  children  had  taken 
an  active  part  in  church  work,  and  three  of  his  sons  were 
studying  for  the  ministry,  while  another  was  the  super- 
intendent of  the  Sunday-school. 


HIS  YOUTH  AND  COLLEGE  CAREER.       69 

The  child  that  attracted  the  young  guest  most,  how- 
ever, was  Eunice  White  Bullard,  who  was  of  a  shy,  re- 
tiring disposition,  but  a  girl  of  quick  intellect  and  rogu- 
ish eyes.  He  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  one  year  older 
than  the  girl.  She  was  a  teacher  in  the  day-schools,  in 
the  Sunday-schools,  and  had  a  class  at  the  mission.  It 
was  a  case  of  love  at  first  sight,  but  it  was  not  until 
seven  years  had  passed  that  the  two  were  made  one. 

Mrs.  Beecher  has  always  been  a  thorough  help  to  her 
husband  in  church  work,  and  to  her,  perhaps,  he  owes 
more  than  is  generally  conceded.  She  made  warm 
friends,  especially  among  the  ladies  of  the  church.  She 
has  been,  since  January,  1885,  the  president  of  the 
Woman's  Sewing  Society  of  Plymouth  Church. 

Like  her  husband,  she  was  fond  of  literary  pursuits. 
Among  her  works  may  be  mentioned  "  Motherly  Talks 
with  Young  House-keepers,"  "  Plymouth  Church  Fair 
Cook  Book,"  and  "  From  Dawn  to  Daylight."  This  last 
is  biographical  in  character,  and  describes  her  own  and 
Mr.  Beecher's  courtship  and  wedding.  During  the  re- 
cent tour  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beecher  abroad,  she  contrib- 
uted a  number  of  highly  interesting  letters  to  the  Brook- 
lyn Magazine. 

Amherst  never  lost  its  hold  on  Mr.  Beecher.  He  was, 
in  the  best  qualities  pertaining  to  the  character,  a  thor- 
ough "  college  man."  When  the  Alpha  Delta  Phi  Society, 
at  its  convention  held  at  Brown  University,  some  years 


7O        LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ago,  elected  him  an  honorary  member,  he  was  greatly 
pleased,  and  afterward  was  prominent  at  its  social  re- 
unions. He  was  immensely  popular  with  the  under- 
graduate element,  and  his  presence  was  a  sure  guarantee 
of  a  delightful  occasion.  One  of  the  best  impromptu 
speeches  of  his  life  was  made  at  a  fraternity  dinner  in 
New  York.  His  theme  was  true  culture  and  its  mission. 
His  audience  was  small,  reporters  were  rigidly  excluded, 
but  he  spoke  from  his  heart,  and  showed  plainly  that 
with  all  his  work,  he  had  time  to  master  and  find  sig- 
nificance and  usefulness  in  matters  apparently  so  small 
as  the  mysteries  and  formula  of  a  college  secret  society. 

Eleven  of  his  classmates  still  survive,  among  them  Dr. 
Erastus  E.  Marcy,  of  this  city,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  H. 
Emery,  of  Taunton,  Mass.  Amherst  College  conferred 
on  Mr.  Beecher  many  years  ago  the  honorary  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  but  he  never  used  it.  On  the  day 
after  his  death,  Amherst  College  alumni  living  in  and 
about  New  York  met  at  No.  95  Nassau  Street,  in  the 
offices  of  Elliot  Sandford,  to  take  action  on  the  death  of 
Mr.  Beecher.  Mr.  Sandford  presided.  About  twenty- 
five  members  of  the  Alumni  Association  were  present. 
Brief  speeches  were  made  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cushman,  of 
The  Churchman,  Colonel  A.  B.  Crane,  and  H.  L.  Bridg- 
man.  Dr.  Cushman  said  that  he  went  to  college  two 
years  after  Mr.  Beecher  left  it.  He  thought  Mr.  Beecher 
the  foremost  man  in  America  in  point  of  pulpit  and  fo- 


HIS    YOUTH   AND    COLLEGE   CAREER.  /I 

rensic  ability.  He  was  certainly  Amherst's  most  distin- 
guished alumnus.  The  college  may  not  always  have  fol- 
lowed him  in  his  theology ;  it  was  proud  to  lay  some  claim 
to  his  patriotism,  his  eloquence,"  and  his  philanthropy.  Mr. 
Bridgman  and  Colonel  Crane  also  spoke  in  praise  of  Mr. 
Beecher's  character  and  work.  A  committee  of  four  was 
appointed  to  draw  up  resolutions  on  Mr.  Beecher's  death, 
and  a  committee  of  ten  to  represent  the  Alumni  Associa- 
tion at  the  funeral.  On  the  first  committee  were  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Cushman,  Class  of  '40 ;  Colonel  Samuel  J. 
Storrs,  '60 ;  Jefferson  Clark,  '67,  and  Elliot  Sandford,  '61. 
On  the  funeral  committee  were  ex-Congressman  Waldo 
Hutchins,  '42 ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  M.  Storrs,  '45  ;  Dr. 
Erastus  E.  Marcy,  '34  (a  classmate  of  Mr.  Beecher) ; 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock,  '36 ;  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Charles  H.  Parkhurst,  '66 ;  Francis  F.  Marbury,  '32 ; 
John  S.  Washburn,  President  of  the  Home  Life  Insur- 
ance Company,  '39;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cushman,  W.  W. 
Goodrich,  '52,  and  Elliot  Sandford.  President  Seelye, 
of  Amherst,  sent  word  that  he  would  come  down  to  rep- 
resent the  college  at  the  funeral.  Steps  have  been  taken 
by  several  wealthy  alumni  toward  endowing  a  professor- 
ship in  Amherst  to  be  named  in  honor  of  Mr.  Beecher. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  preached  his  first  sermon,  if  we 
may  believe  the  traditions  of  the  place,  at  Batavia,  O.,  in 
1835.  His  brother  George  was  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Batavia,  at  the  time,  and  Henry  Ward,  who  was  not  yet 


72        LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ordained,  passed  a  part  of  a  vacation  there.  The  young 
pastor  was  indisposed  one  Sunday  and  invited  his  brother 
to  fill  the  pulpit.  The  request  was  complied  with,  and 
the  congregation  was  very  much  pleased  with  the  ser- 
mon that  was  preached.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  but 
twenty-two  years  of  age  then,  and  there  are  old  residents 
of  Batavia  who  still  remember  the  young  man's  bright, 
boyish  face,  his  sweet,  resonant  voice,  and  the  earnest- 
ness and  enthusiasm  of  his  manner.  The  old  church  has 
for  many  years  now  been  a  livery  stable,  and  perhaps 
it  has  been  torn  down  by  this  time. 

George  Beecher's  career  was  closed  while  still  a  young 
man.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  shooting,  and  one  day, 
when  out  on  an  expedition  of  this  sort,  he  blew  into  his 
loaded  gun,  which  was  discharged,  and  he  was  instantly 
killed. 

It  was  held  by  many  who  knew  both  brothers  that 
George  Beecher,  had  he  lived,  would  have  developed 
greater  power  as  a  preacher  than  Henry  Ward. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

HIS  MARRIAGE  AND  LIFE  IN  THE  WEST. 

He  Marries  and  Moves  West. — Locates  at  Lawrenceburg,  Ind. — An  Arca- 
dian Life. — Gardening. — Missionary  Work. — Editorial  Work. — Ac- 
tive in 'Revivals.— Hardships  of  Western  Life. — The  Pastorate  at 
Indianapolis. — The  West  Country. — Some  Anecdotes. — His  Fame 
Spreads. — His  First  Address  in  New  York. — The  Foreign  Missionary 
Society. — Henry  C.  Bowen  hears  Him. — He  receives  an  Offer 
from  Plymouth  Church. — He  accepts  the  Position  at  $1,500  per 
Annum. 

MR.  BEECHER,  as  related  in  the  previous  chapter,  first 
saw  the  lady  he  married  some  seven  years  previously, 
when  he  entered  Amherst  College.  The  lovers  were  en- 
gaged seven  years,  not  being  married  until  1837.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Beecher  had  ten  children,  of  whom  only  four 
are  living,  one  daughter  and  three  sons.  The  daughter, 
who  is  the  eldest  of  the  four,  is  the  wife  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Scoville,  of  Stamford,  Conn.  Mr.  Beecher's  eld- 
est son,  Colonel  Henry  Barton  Beecher,  is  a  well-known 
insurance  man  in  Brooklyn.  Major  William  C.  Beecher 
is  a  lawyer,  and  the  youngest,  Herbert  Beecher,  was 
appointed  Collector  of  Customs  at  Portland,  Ore.,  by 
President  Cleveland  in  1885,  but  a  year  later  the  Senate 
rejected  his  nomination,  after  which  he  was  given  another 


74        LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

office  in  the  Northwest.  His  home  is  at  Seattle,  Wash. 
Territory. 

In  1837,  after  his  marriage,  he  became  pastor  of  a  Pres- 
byterian Church  at  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  and  in  1839  he 
went  to  Indianapolis.  He  loved  his  Western  work,  and 
in  all  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  he  labored  for  his  peo- 
ple. He  did  much  manual  labor  about  his  house, 
chopped  wood,  raised  flowers,  pruned  trees,  hoed  his  own 
garden,  swept  his  own  church,  drove  nails  and  put  in 
glass,  built  fires,  and  rang  the  bell  for  the  services.  His 
first  converts  were  two  domestics,  who  remained  after 
one  of  his  prayer  meetings.  He  afterward  said  that  there 
was  a  strong  "  dish-watery  "  odor  about  them,  and  he  was 
tempted  to  dismiss  them  with  his  blessing ;  but  he  con- 
cluded it  would  not  do  to  be  fastidious,  and  he  got  upon 
his  knees  along-side  of  them.  Speaking  of  this  period  of 
his  life,  his  sister  says  : 

"  His  life  was  of  an  arcadian  simplicity.  He  inhabited 
a  cottage  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  where  he  cultivat- 
ed a  garden,  and  gathered  around  him  horse,  cow,  and 
pig — all  the  wholesome  suite  of  domestic  animals  which 
he  had  been  accustomed  to  care  for  in  early  life.  He 
was  an  enthusiast  on  all  these  matters,  fastidious  about 
breeds  and  bloods,  and  each  domestic  animal  was  a  pet, 
and  received  his  own  personal  attentions.  In  the  note- 
books of  this  period,  amid  hints  for  sermons,  come  mem- 
oranda respecting  his  favorite  Berkshire  pig  or  Durham 


HIS   MARRIAGE   AND   LIFE   IN   THE   WEST.  75 

cow.  He  read  on  gardening,  farming,  and  stock-raising, 
all  that  he  could  lay  hands  on  ;  he  imported  from  Eastern 
cultivators  all  sorts  of  roses  and  all  sorts  of  pear-trees 
and  grape-vines,  and  edited  an  horticultural  paper,  which 
had  quite  a  circulation.  ...  In  his  theological  stud- 
ies he  had  but  two  volumes — the  Bible  and  human  nat- 
ure— which  he  held  to  be  indispensable  to  the  under- 
standing each  of  the  other." 

Three  months  of  each  year  he  devoted  to  missionary 
work  through  the  State,  travelling  from  place  to  place  on 
horseback,  and  preaching  every  day.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, receive  any  popular  recognition  until  about  the  third 
year  of  his  ministry,  when  there  was  a  great  revival  of  re- 
ligion at  Terre  Haute,  which  was  followed  by  a  series 
of  revivals  throughout  the  State,  in  which  he  became  ac- 
tively engaged.  He  preached  not  only  religion  from  the 
Bible,  but  inveighed  against  intemperance,  and  became  a 
recognized  power  and  leader.  His  style  was  bold  and 
original,  and  at  once  attracted  attention  and  occasional 
comment,  though  the  reporter  was  not  about  in  those 
days  to  scatter  a  man's  speeches  and  fame  over  the  land. 
His  revival  work  created  a  sensation  in  the  Western 
country,  and  especially  in  Indianapolis,  where  he  was 
located  from  1839  to  1845.  While  pastor  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  he  created  a  sensation  by  declar- 
ing, in  three  distinct  and  powerful  sermons,  slavery  to  be 
an  institution  in  defiance  of  the  laws  of  God,  and  an 


76        LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

outrage  upon  the  rights  of  man,  showing  thus  early  in 
his  career  his  inclination  to  find  his  themes  in  contem- 
poraneous events  and  affairs  rather  than  in  the  history  of 
the  past. 

Alluding  to  his  experiences  in  Indianapolis,  a  history 
of  the  church  by  a  member  says  : 

"  In  the  early  spring  of  1842  a  revival  began,  more  no- 
ticeable, perhaps,  than  any  that  this  church  or  this  com- 
munity has  seen.  The  whole  town  was 'pervaded  by  the 
influences  of  religion.  For  many  weeks  the  work  con- 
tinued with  unabated  power,  and  at  three  commun- 
ion seasons,  held  successively  in  February,  March,  and 
April,  1842,  nearly  one  hundred  persons  were  added  to 
the  church  on  profession  of  their  faith.  This  was  God's 
work.  It  is  not  improper,  however,  to  speak  of  the  pas- 
tor in  that  revival,  as  he  is  remembered  by  some  of  his 
congregation,  plunging  through  the  wet  streets,  his  trou- 
sers stuffed  in  his  muddy  boot-legs,  earnest,  untiring, 
swift,  with  a  merry  heart,  a  glowing  face,  and  a  help- 
ful word  for  everyone ;  the  whole  day  preaching  Christ 
to  the  people  where  he  could  find  them,  and  at  night 
still  preaching  where  the  people  could  easily  find  him. 
It  is  true  that  in  this  revival  some  wood  and  hay  and 
stubble  were  gathered  with  the  gold  and  silver  and  pre- 
cious stones.  As  in  all  new  communities,  there  was  spe- 
cial danger  of  unhealthy  excitement.  But  in  general  the 
results  were  most  happy  for  the  church  and  for  the  town. 


HIS   MARRIAGE   AND   LIFE   IN   THE   WEST.  77 

Some  of  those  who  have  been  pillars  since,  found  the 
Saviour  in  that  memorable  time.  Nor  was  the  awaken- 
ing succeeded  by  an  immediate  relapse. 

"  Early  in  the  following  year,  at  the  March  and  April 
communions,  the  church  had  large  accessions,  and  it  had 
also  in  1845.  There  was,  indeed,  a  wholesome  and  nearly 
continuous  growth,  up  to  the  time  when  the  first  pastor 
resigned,  to  accept  a  call  to  the  Plymouth  Congregational 
Church,  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  This  occurred  August  24, 
1847,  and  on  the  nineteenth  of  the  following  month  Mr. 
Beecher's  labors  for  the  congregation  ceased. 

"  The  pastorate  thus  terminated  had  extended  through 
more  than  eight  years.  During  this  time  much  had  been 
accomplished.  The  society  had  built  a  pleasant  house  of 
worship.  The  membership  had  advanced  from  thirty-two 
to  two  hundred  and  seventy-five.  What  was  considered 
a  doubtful  enterprise,  inaugurated  as  it  had  been  amid 
many  prophecies  of  failure,  had  risen  to  an  enviable  posi- 
tion, not  only  in  the  capital,  but  in  the  State.  The  at- 
tachment between  the  pastor  and  the  people  had  become 
peculiarly  strong.  Mutual  toils  and  sufferings  and  suc- 
cesses had  bound  them  fast  together.  Only  the  demands 
of  a  wider  field  making  duty  plain  divided  them,  and  a  re- 
cent letter  proves  that  the  pastor's  early  charge  still  keeps 
its  hold  upon  his  heart.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
the  few  of  his  flock  who  yet  remain  among  us  always  speak 
of '  Henry '  with  beaming  eyes  and  mellowed  voices." 


78        LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Another  writer  says  upon  this  subject : 

"  In  the  two  years  of  his  Lawrenceburg  pastorate  Mr. 
Beecher  made  his  mark.  As  a  preacher  he  was  eloquent ; 
as  an  orthodox  teacher  he  was  not  over-zealous ;  as  a 
sympathizing  pastor  he  was  of  average  merit  only.  His 
meetings  were  well  attended,  and  he  made  himself  felt. 
His  personal  magnetism  was  great,  the  flush  of  vigorous 
health  was  in  his  veins,  and  he  stirred  up  the  dry  bones 
of  his  neighborhood  to  such  a  degree  that  the  attention 
of  a  wider  circle  was  attracted,  and  he  was  called  to  take 
charge  of  a  similar  church  in  Indianapolis,  the  capital  of 
the  State.  Here  he  narrowly  escaped  being  switched  off 
on  another  and  very  different  track.  A  new  railroad  was 
projected,  and  a  superintendent  was  to  be  chosen.  A 
bank  president  who  was  one  of  the  chief  directors  had 
been  greatly  affected  by  the  go-ahead  manner  and  zeal 
of  the  young  parson,  and  concluding  that  he  was  pos- 
sessed of  the  qualities  that  would  make  him  a  first-rate 
railroad  official,  proposed  his  name.  The  contest  was 
close  ;  Beecher  lost  by  one  vote — and  thus  the  railroad 
interest  of  the  West  was  spared  the  disgrace  of  pulling 
from  the  American  platform  the  man  who  has  done  the 
most  to  make  that  platform  famous. 

"  In  Indianapolis  young  Beecher  made  friends  in  several 
new  circles.  His  church  was  small,  and  his  ministrations 
at  first  were  held  in  a  room  in  the  second  story  of  the 
town  academy.  As  the  son  of  Lyman  Beecher  he  was 


HIS   MARRIAGE   AND   LIFE   IN   THE   WEST.  79 

accorded  a  courteous  welcome,  but  it  was  not  long  ere 
he  was  esteemed  and  appreciated  for  his  individual  merit. 
Here,  too,  in  a  sense,  he  began  to  live.  Hitherto  he  had 
been  little  better  than  a  home  missionary,  and,  indeed,  he 
was  for  some  time  a  beneficiary  on  the  books  of  the 
Home  Missionary  Society.  His  entire  income  was  less 
than  three  hundred  dollars  nominally,  and  part  of  that 
was  paid  in  corn,  potatoes,  and  other  products  of  the  soil. 
When  he  needed  a  house  to  live  in,  he  hauled  the  logs 
himself.  His  neighbors  aided  him  to  put  it  up.  The 
whitewash  and  paint  he  attended  to  himself.  The  rapid- 
ity with  which  his  children  followed  one  another,  and  the 
malarial  condition  of  the  section  in  which  he  lived,  broke 
down  the  strong  constitution  of  his  faithful  wife,  and  as 
they  were  unable  to  pay  a  servant,  threw  on  him  the  do- 
mestic drudgery.  He  chopped  the  wood,  drew  the  water, 
peeled  the  potatoes,  cooked  the  food,  served  it,  washed  the 
dishes,  and  cleaned  up  the  house.  When  sickness  neces- 
sitated frequent  washings  of  soiled  clothes  it  was  he  who 
did  the  work.  Part  of  the  time  he  did  double  duty,  and 
rode  twenty  miles  through  the  woods  and  across  the 
prairies  to  the  log  school-house  in  which  service  was  held, 
preached,  rode  back  again,  cooked  the  dinner,  preached 
in  his  own  church,  returned  to  nurse  his  sick  wife  and  at- 
tend to  the  children,  got  the  supper,  and  spent  the  even- 
ing in  the  prayer-meeting.  At  times  he  was  so  poor  that 
an  unpaid  letter,  on  which  eighteen  or  twenty  cents  were 


80        LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

due,  remained  in  the  post-office,  with  news  from  the 
East,  uncalled  for,  because  he  did  not  have  the  money 
with  which  to  pay  the  postage. 

"  Added  to  the  poverty  of  his  pocket,  the  incessant 
drain  of  his  sympathy  at  home,  the  continuous  necessity 
of  physical  toil  in  the  house,  the  garden,  and  the  wood- 
shed, and  the  preparation  of  his  sermons,  was  a  doubt, 
an  uncertainty  in  his  beliefs.  The  little  cloud,  small  as 
a  man's  hand,  that  frightened  him  when  a  boy,  made 
him  gloomy  when  in  college,  and  shadowed  him  in  his 
first  charge,  now  assumed  vast  proportions.  He  was  all 
afloat.  All  that  kept  him  from  sinking — humanly  speak- 
ing— was  his  own  honest  expression  of  doubt.  Had  he 
kept  it  to  himself  and  brooded  over  it  in  secret  he  might 
have  been  carried  over  the  falls  of  infidelity,  or  gone  to 
the  fool's  refuge — suicide.  But  Beecher  was  then,  as  al- 
ways, open-mouthed.  What  he  felt,  thought,  or  knew  he 
told.  Secretiveness  was  never  fairly  developed  in  his 
nature.  He  never  could  keep  a  secret.  He  made  friends 
easily,  and  the  last  person  with  him  invariably  knew  his 
mind.  He  was  easily  deceived,  for,  although  he  had 
constant  experience  in  human  strengths  and  human 
weaknesses,  he  was  by  nature  confiding  and  trustful. 
Truthful  himself,  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  persuade 
him  that  anyone  would  be  false  in  speech  or  inference 
to  him.  He  knew  all  about  wickedness  in  general,  but 
special  cases  bothered  him.  When  doubts  assailed  him, 


HIS   MARRIAGE  AND   LIFE  IN  THE   WEST.  8 1 

instead  of  taking  them  to  his  study  he  used  them  as  il- 
lustrations in  the  pulpit.  If  he  questioned  the  possibil- 
ity of  forgiveness  of  sin,  he  became  the  example.  It  was 
his  breast  that  he  beat,  his  doubt  he  asserted,  his  fears 
he  expressed.  In  picturing  the  estate  of  a  lost  soul  the 
imagery  lost  nothing  of  its  power  by  a  personal  applica- 
tion. Enthusiastic  in  everything,  from  the  culture  of  a 
flower  to  the  worship  of  his  Saviour,  Mr.  Beecher  car- 
ried his  zealous  search  for  remedies  in  this  state  of  doubt 
to  the  extremity  of  his  passionate  nature.  Crowds  at- 
tended his  preaching.  Waves  of  religious  feeling  carried 
all  classes  of  people  before  them.  The  State  of  Indiana 
was  in  an  uproar.  The  Presbyterian  churches  looked  on 
amazed.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  thanked  God  that  He  had 
given  him  such  a  son,  and  in  the  same  breath  beseeched 
Him  to  guide  him,  lest  he  should  fall.  The  Legisla- 
ture sat  in  Indianapolis,  and  in  its  train  followed  the 
evils  that  generally  accompany  the  camp  followers. 
Intemperance,  gambling,  and  kindred  vices  were  ram- 
pant in  the  place.  Everybody  knew  it.  The  sores 
affected  the  entire  body  politic.  The  members  of  the 
Legislature,  knew  it  as  well  as  the  rest,  and  winked 
at  it  like  the  rest.  This  seemed  to  Beecher  a  fair 
target.  He  announced  a  series  of  lectures  to  young 
men,  and  delivered  them  in  his  church.  The  feeling 
engendered  by  them  was  intense.  Those  who  were 
hit  were  indignant.  All  classes  went  to  hear  them, 


82         LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

and  before  they  were   concluded   a  revival   arose   that 
swept  the  city. 

"  Meantime  the  uncertainty  of  young  Beecher  increased, 
and  with  it  grew  his  power.  He  was  maturing  mentally 
and  physically.  His  head  expanded  as  he  read  the 
books  of  nature  and  of  humanity  all  about  him.  He 
felt  the  necessity  of  supplementing  his  sparse  education 
by  such  means  as  were  at  his  disposal.  Books  were  rare 
and  costly.  Newspapers  were  in  their  infancy.  He 
read  all  that  he  could  borrow  or  obtain  from  the  public 
libraries,  and  felt  inexpressible  gratitude  when  the  choice 
volumes  of  a  wealthy  friend  were  placed  at  his  service. 
The  West,  and  especially  that  section  of  it,  was  full  of 
quick-witted  men  and  growing  women.  Both  sought 
comfort  in  the  preaching  of  this  man  of  the  people.  In- 
stead of  scoffing  at  their  doubts,  he  boldly  proclaimed  his 
own.  This  made  him  the  friend  and  spokesman  of  the 
wavering.  He  pictured  in  vivid  colors  the  unhappiness 
of  his  thoughts,  the  terror  of  his  fear,  and  produced  in 
their  minds  the  impression  that  Beecher  and  they  were 
one  and  the  same.  When  he  found  relief  they  partici- 
pated in  his  joy.  When  he  sung  the  song  of  salvation 
they  joined  in  the  chorus.  He  became  immensely  pop- 
ular in  his  parish  and  in  the  State.  He  was  not  the  ideal 
parson.  He  wore  no  distinctive  garb.  His  face  was 
round  and  jolly.  His  eye  was  full  of  laughter.  His 
manner  was  hearty  and  his  interest  sincere. 


HIS   MARRIAGE   AND   LIFE  IN   THE   WEST.  83 

"  It  was  often  said  that  Beecher  could  have  attained  any 
desired  distinction  at  the  bar  or  in  politics.  He  was  im- 
portuned to  stand  as  a  candidate  for  legislative  honors, 
but  invariably  refused  even  to  think  of  it.  At  this  time, 
when  he  regarded  himself  spiritually  weak,  he  was  elo- 
quently strong.  He  preached  without  notes,  and  talked  as 
if  inspired.  His  prayers  were  poems.  His  illustrations 
were  constant  and  always  changing.  He  kept  his  people 
wide  awake,  and  made  them  feel  his  earnestness.  His  act- 
ing power  was  marvellous.  Those  who  knew  him  well  will 
remember  that  when  talking  he  could  with  difficulty  sit 
still.  He  almost  invariably  rose,  and  in  the  excitement 
of  description  or  argument  acted  the  entire  subject  as  it 
struck  him.  Oftentimes  in  his  most  solemn  moments  an 
illustration  or  an  odd  expression  would  escape  him  that 
sent  a  laugh  from  pew  to  pew.  Waking  suddenly  to  the 
incongruity  of  the  scene  and  the  subject,  it  almost  seemed 
as  if  the  rebuking  spirit  of  his  dead  mother  stood  before 
him,  for  with  a  manner  that  carried  the  sympathy  of  the 
audience  he  would  drift  into  a  channel  tender  and  deep 
and  full  of  tears,  along  which  the  feelings  of  his  people 
were  irresistibly  borne.  Then  as  later  the  chief  topics 
of  his  repertory  were  the  love  of  God  and  the  dignity  of 
man.  He  rarely  preached  from  the  Old  Testament. 
The  thunders  of  Sinai  and  the  flames  of  hell  had  no 
power  over  him.  It  would  puzzle  an  expert  to  find  in 
all  his  published  sermons — and  for  more  than  a  genera- 


84        LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

tion  every  word  he  spoke  was  reported  as  he  spoke  it — a 
sentence  of  which  threats  or  fears  were  the  dominant 
spirit.  He  preached  the  love  of  God  and  the  sympathy 
of  Christ  first,  last,  and  all  the  time.  He  knew  the  poli- 
ticians of  the  West  thoroughly,  and  the  gamblers,  who 
were  a  powerful  fraternity,  made  up  their  minds  that  it 
was  folly  to  interfere  with  the  robust  preacher,  who  was 
not  afraid  to  push  their  bully  aside  when  he  stood  in  front 
of  the  ballot-box,  and  who  met  them  eye  to  eye  on  the 
street  as  well  as  in  the  pulpit. 

"  While  in  the  height  of  his  popularity  in  the  West  he 
was  hampered  as  few  men  would  care  to  be.  He  was 
hungry  for  books  and  papers,  but  could  not  afford  them. 
He  had  a  royal  physique,  and  every  vein  throbbed  with 
superabundant  health,  but  his  home  was  a  hospital.  His 
ambition  was  great,  but  he  was  tied  to  a  stake  in  a  con- 
tracted field.  He  strove  to  live  outside  of  himself,  made 
many  pastoral  calls,  talked  with  men  about  their  business 
trials,  and  sympathized  with  women  in  their  domestic 
woes.  At  his  own  home  his  hands  were  full.  His  wife 
was  broken  in  health  and  discomforted  in  spirit.  She  did 
not  like  the  West  and  the  West  was  unkind  to  her  con- 
stitution. It  was  a  serious  question  whether  she  could 
much  longer  endure  the  strain  on  her  physique,  and  this 
wore  on  the  sympathetic  nature  of  her  husband.  He  was 
entirely  unselfish,  but  the  attrition  of  years  of  complaint 
worried  him.  He  did  the  best,  all,  in  fact,  he  could,  but 


HIS   MARRIAGE   AND   LIFE   IN   THE   WEST.  85 

to  no  use.  Finding  himself  depressed,  Mr.  Beecher  reso- 
lutely set  to  work  to  drive  his  fits  of  despondency  away. 
He  became  interested  in  trees  and  flowers.  Aided  by 
friends,  he  started  an  agricultural  paper,  and  posted  him- 
self from  books  on  floriculture,  and  read  the  fat  and  prosy 
volumes  of  Loudon.  His  fresh  and  novel  mode  of  treat- 
ing these  subjects  won  him  fame,  but  not  fortune.  His 
own  garden  gave  evidence  of  his  skill,  and  the  fairs  were 
not  niggardly  in  premiums  to  the  amateur  gardener. 
Eight  years  swiftly  wore  away,  and  in  the  often-recurring 
excitements  of  revivals,  public  meetings,  home  trials,  and 
personal  bewilderments,  the  young  man  passed  from  the 
first  period  of  his  career  to  the  second. 

"  In  1 847  he  was  thirty-four  years  old.  Mentally,  he  had 
become  broader,  and  looked  over  wider  fields  than  when 
he  began  to  labor.  Morally,  he  was  as  sincere,  as  truth- 
ful, and  as  ingenuous  as  when  he  opened  his  big  blue  eyes 
with  astonishment  at  the  Bible  stories  he  heard  at  '  Aunt 
Esther's '  knee.  Physically  he  was  a  picture  of  vigorous 
health.  He  stood  about  five  feet  eight  inches  high.  His 
large,  well-formed,  well-developed  head  sat  defiantly  on  a 
short,  red  neck,  that  grew  from  a  sturdy  frame,  rampant 
and  lusty  in  nerve  and  fibre  and  blood  and  muscle. 
He  had  no  money,  owned  no  real  estate.  His  capital 
was  in  his  brains,  and  they  needed  the  culture  procurable 
in  the  metropolis  alone,  where  libraries  and  book  stores, 
art  galleries  and  men  of  thought,  were  to  be  met  at  every 


86        LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

turn.  A  career  in  the  East  was  far  from  Beecher's 
thoughts,  and  yet  his  sick  wife  seemed  to  need  a  medic- 
ament not  to  be  found  in  the  West." 

Mrs.  Stowe  writes  of  his  later  Western  experiences  as 
follows : 

"  Mr.  Beecher  always  looked  back  with  peculiar  tender- 
ness to  his  Western  life,  in  the  glow  of  his  youthful  days, 
and  in  that  glorious,  rich,  abundant,  unworn  Western 
country.  The  West,  with  its  wide,  rich,  exuberant 
spaces  of  land,  its  rolling  prairies,  garlanded  with  rain- 
bows of  ever-springing  flowers,  teeming  with  abundance 
of  food  for  man,  and  opening  in  every  direction  avenues 
for  youthful  enterprise  and  hope,  was  to  him  a  morning 
land.  To  carry  Christ's  spotless  banner  in  high  triumph 
through  such  a  land  was  a  thing  worth  living  for,  and  as 
he  rode  on  horseback  alone,  from  day  to  day,  along  the 
rolling  prairie  lands,  sometimes  up  to  his  horse's  head  in 
grass  and  waving  flowers,  he  felt  himself  kindled  with  a 
sort  of  ecstasy.  The  prairies  rolled  and  blossomed  in  his 
sermons,  and  his  style  at  this  time  had  a  tangled  luxuri- 
ance of  poetic  imagery,  a  rush  and  abundance  of  words, 
a  sort  of  rich  and  heavy  involution  that  resembled  the 
growth  of  a  tropical  forest. 

"  '  What  sort  of  a  style  am  I  forming  ? '  he  said  to  a 
critical  friend  who  had  come  to  hear  him  preach. 

"  '  Well,  I  should  call  it  tropical  style,'  was  the  reply. 

"  There  was  a  store  in  Indianapolis  where  the  minis- 


HIS   MARRIAGE   AND   LIFE   IN   THE   WEST.  87 

ters  of  all  denominations  often  dropped  in  to  hear  the 
news,  and  where  the  free  Western  nature  made  it  always 
a  rule  to  try  each  other's  metal  with  a  joke.  No  matter 
how  sharp  the  joke,  it  was  considered  to  be  all  fair  and 
friendly. 

"  On  one  occasion  Mr.  Beecher,  riding  to  one  of  the 
stations  of  his  mission,  was  thrown  over  his  horse's  head 
in  crossing  the  Miami,  pitched  into  the  water,  and  crept 
out  thoroughly  immersed.  The  incident,  of  course,  fur- 
nished occasion  for  talk  in  the  circle  the  next  day,  and  his 
good  friend  the  Baptist  minister  proceeded  to  attack 
him  the  moment  he  made  his  appearance. 

"  '  Oh,  ho,  Beecher,  glad  to  see  you  !  I  thought  you'd 
have  to  come  into  our  ways  at  last !  You  have  been  im- 
mersed at  last  ;  you  are  as  good  as  any  of  us  now.'  A 
general  laugh  followed  this  sally. 

"  '  Poh,  poh  ! '  was  the  ready  response,  '  my  immersion 
was  a  different  thing  from  that  of  your  converts.  You 
see,  I  was  immersed  by  a  horse,  not  by  an  ass.' 

"A  chorus  of  laughter  proclaimed  that  Mr.  Beecher 
had  got  the  better  of  the  joke  for  this  time. 

"A  Methodist  brother  once  said  to  him,  'Well,  now, 
really,  Brother  Beecher,  what  have  you  against  Method- 
ist doctrines  ? ' 

"  '  Nothing,  only  that  your  converts  will  practise 
them.' 

" '  Practise  them  ? ' 


88         LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD    BEECHER. 

"  '  Yes,  you  preach  falling  from  grace,  and  your  con- 
verts practise  it  with  a  vengeance.' 

"  One  morning,  as  he  was  sitting  at  table,  word  was 
brought  in  that  his  friend  the  Episcopal  minister  was  at 
the  gate,  wanting  to  borrow  his  horse. 

"  '  Stop,  stop,'  said  he,  with  a  face  of  great  gravity ; 
'  there's  something  to  be  attended  to  first ; '  and  rising 
from  table,  he  ran  out  to  him,  and  took  his  arm  with  the 
air  of  a  man  who  is  about  to  make  a  serious  proposition. 

" '  Now,  Brother  G ,  you  want  my  horse  for  a  day  ? 

Well,  you  see,  it  lies  on  my  mind  greatly  that  you  don't 
admit  of  my  ordination.  I  don't  think  it's  fair.  Now  if 
you'll  admit  that  I'm  a  genuinely  ordained  minister  you 
shall  have  my  horse,  but  if  not,  I  don't  know  about  it.' 

"  Mr.  Beecher  was  so  devoted  to  the  West,  and  so 
identified  with  it,  that  he  would  never  have  left  what  he 
was  wont  to  call  his  bishopric  in  Indiana  for  the  older 
and  more  set  and  conventional  circles  of  New  York  had 
not  the  health  of  his  family  made  a  removal  indispensa- 
ble." 

The  discoverer  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  in  the  Western 
country  was  James  Cooke,  formerly  the  business  partner 
of  William  T.  Cutler,  one  of  the  founders  of  Plymouth 
Church.  Mr.  Cooke  praised  young  Beecher  so  highly 
that  Mr.  Cutler,  who  was  once  Lyman  Beecher's  parish- 
ioner, and  had  known  Henry  Ward  as  a  boy  ten  or 
twelve  years  old,  became  interested,  and  told  the  pro- 


HIS  MARRIAGE  AND   LIFE  IN  THE  WEST.  89 

jectors  of  Plymouth  Church  about  the  Western  orator, 
and  he  was  asked  to  go  out  and  see  him.  He  heard 
Mr.  Beecher  with  satisfaction,  and  arranged  to  have  his 
expenses  paid  on  to  New  York  to  address  the  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  a£  its  meeting  on  May  14,  1847,  at 
the  Tabernacle,  with  Hon.  Thomas  Frelinghuysen  in  the 
chair.  His  speech  on  that  occasion  was  generally  con- 
sidered the  best  delivered  during  the  week's  session.  In 
the  course  of  it  he  said : 

"  What  was  the  condition  of  the  world  when  Christ 
came  into  it  ?  The  human  family  had  been  for  four 
thousand  years  upon  its  bosom.  In  so  long  a  growth 
they  had  advanced  from  the  lowest  and  rudest  forms  of 
life  to  something  better.  Little  by  little  they  had  been 
developed,  and  at  the  time  of  Christ  they  stood  where 
the  progress  of  four  thousand  years  had  brought  them. 
Savage  habits  had  been  laid  aside  ;  from  a  feeble  creature 
man  gained  strength  ;  unarmed  before,  he  had  now  armed 
himself  with  the  implements  of  industry ;  from  destitu- 
tion he  had  created  the  means  of  physical  comfort,  and  of 
an  outward  life  which  might  be  called  human — all  this 
had  been  done  in  four  thousand  years,  and  men  were 
ready  for  the  Redeemer.  Suppose  the  Gospel  had  been 
sent  out  into  the  world  at  any  earlier  period  of  its  his- 
tory, do  you  think  it  could  have  been  received  and  taken 
root  ?  What  nation  of  men  was  prepared  for  it  ? 

"  And  now,  what  is  the  attitude  of  Christianity  in  our 


9O        LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

day  ?  Which  way  do  the  times  face  ?  To  me  they  seem 
as  though  they  were  going  up  to  Jerusalem.  I  believe 
that  they  are  in  their  degree  doing  Heaven's  work  on 
earth.  But  what  have  we  done  ?  Why,  sir,  we  have 
raised  every  question  which  can  be  raised  in  civilized  so- 
ciety. Nothing  that  relates  to  the  rights  of  man,  to  lib- 
erty, to  social  forms  and  duties,  but  has  been  called  up 
for  discussion.  Many  of  these  are  perplexing  questions, 
doubtless,  but  it  is  necessary  that  they  should  be  settled 
before  the  Gospel  can  get  full  swing  at  man.  There  must 
be  a  downfall  to  all  that  is  opposed  to  the  Gospel,  no 
matter  what  it  is.  Governments,  communities,  customs, 
must  come  up  to  that  standard ;  God  requires  this.  Es- 
tablished errors  must  be  removed,  and  by-and-by  the 
mind  will  begin  to  see  truth  in  all  its  lustre,  without  lens 
or  distracting  medium. 

"  The  Gospel  is  getting  ready  to  accomplish  its  work.  I 
hope  your  faith  is  strong.  You  might  as  well  stand  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi  and  be  afraid  it  was  going  to  run 
up-stream  as  to  suppose  that  the  current  of  Christendom 
can  run  more  than  one  way.  What  would  you  think  of 
a  man  who  should  stand  moon-struck  over  an  eddy  and 
because  that  didn't  go  right  forward  declare  that  the 
whole  flood  had  got  out  of  its  course  ?  So  in  the  stream 
of  time.  The  things  that  appear  in  our  day  all  have 
bearing  on  the  coming  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
reign  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  earth." 


HIS   MARRIAGE   AND   LIFE   IN   THE   WEST.  QI 

Henry  C.  Bowen  heard  him,  and  offered  to  defray  all 
expenses  toward  getting  him  East.  Mr.  Beecher  was 
averse  to  leaving  the  West.  "  My  heart,"  he  said,  "  is 
there,  and  I  am  going  back  to  stay  if  I  can."  Mrs. 
Beecher's  health  was  becoming  poor  through  the  influ- 
ences of  the  Western  climate,  and  soon  after  his  return 
she  became  so  ill  that  he  wrote  back  to  Brooklyn  that  if 
his  wife  survived  he  would  start  her  and  the  children 
East  as  soon  as  her  health  would  permit,  and  would  fol- 
low as  early  afterward  as  he  could.  "  And  now,"  he 
wrote,  "  when  you  get  me  to  the  East  you  think  you  can 
do  just  what  you  have  a  mind  to  do  with  me,  but  you 
will  see." 

The  formal  offer  to  Mr.  Beecher  was  a  salary  of  $1,500 
a  year.  His  letter  of  acceptance,  which  was  received  by 
Mr.  Bowen,  was  sealed  with  one  of  those  little  picture- 
seals  in  vogue  in  those  days.  The  picture  was  of  a  gate 
thrown  from  its  fastenings,  and  the  motto  beneath  it 
was  :  "  I'm  all  unhinged." 

During  his  residence  at  Indianapolis  the  first  conspic- 
uous effort  of  Mr.  Beecher  above  the  level  of  his  ordi- 
nary pastoral  duties  was  a  revival  begun  in  February, 
1842.  At  that  time  a  controversy  was  going  on — raging 
would  hardly  be  too  strong  a  description — between  the 
Christian  denomination  (called  then  "  Disciples "  and 
"  Campbellites ")  and  other  sectaries,  on  the  mode  of 
baptism,  the  former  holding  immersion  to  be  the  only 


92        LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

proper  or  efficacious  mode,  Methodists  and  Presbyterians 
dissenting.  Public  debates  were  frequent  and  sometimes 
acrimonious,  an  adherent  of  the  comparatively  new  sect 
of  Disciples  being  invariably  one  of  the  contestants. 
Rev.  John  O'Kane,  a  noted  controversialist  of  that  de- 
nomination, once  in  a  good-humored  and  rather  jocular 
tone  challenged  Mr.  Beecher  to  a  public  debate,  but  the 
challenge  was  declined  as  pleasantly  as  it  was  offered. 
In  this  state  of  feeling  among  the  denominations  all  over 
the  West  Mr.  Beecher  carried  on  his  first  revival,  and  an 
incident  of  it  made  him  the  subject  of  the  first  very 
harsh  censure  he  had  probably  ever  encountered.  His 
congregation  and  many  spectators  had  gathered  on  the 
canal  bank,  near  Kentucky  Avenue  Bridge,  to  witness  the 
baptism,  by  immersion  in  the  canal,  of  one  of  the  revival 
converts,  a  son  of  Solon  W.  Norris,  a  prominent  citizen, 
who  believed  in  that  mode  of  administration  of  the  rite. 
Before  proceeding  with  it,  Mr.  Beecher  made  a  brief 
speech  to  the  crowd,  in  which  he  said  that  he  held  any 
mode  of  baptism  effectual,  but  would  always  use  that 
which  the  subject  of  it  preferred.  This  was  little  less 
then  than  an  avowal  of  agnosticism  now,  to  the  "  immer- 
sionists,"  and  they  made  Mr.  Beecher  the  text  of  a  good 
deal  of  unpleasant  animadversion. 

In  1843  he  delivered  a  series  of  twelve  "Lectures  to 
Young  Men,"  primarily  aiming  to  warn  his  revival  con- 
verts and  their  associates  of  the  temptations,  perils,  and 


HIS   MARRIAGE  AND   LIFE   IN  THE   WEST.  93 

struggles  that  lie  in  the  paths  of  young  men,  and  the 
methods  of  avoidance  or  resistance.  They  were  a  well 
done  piece  of  work,  in  a  literary  point  of  view,  better 
done  as  a  shrewd  and  sound  estimate  of  the  condition 
and  necessities  of  young  men,  especially  in  city  life. 
They  were  always  largely  attended,  and  almost  always 
cordially  approved.  The  only  exception  was  that  on  the 
"  Strange  Woman,"  and  that,  as  he  humorously  says  in 
his  preface,  received  harsher  censure  before  it  was  read 
than  after.  A  considerable  edition  was  sold  in  the  West, 
and  a  second  issued,  which  was  republished  in  England, 
the  first  work  of  an  Indiana  author  thus  honored. 

Some  two  or  three  years  before  he  left  his  church  in 
Indianapolis  for  the  "  Plymouth,"  in  Brooklyn,  he  de- 
livered several  sermons  on  the  subject  of  temperance. 
His  father  was  one  of  the  first  men,  if  not  the  very  first 
man,  of  eminence  in  this  country  to  make  a  specialty  of 
sermons  or  addresses  on  temperance.  Henry  had  kept 
even  step  with  the  venerable  missionary  of  sobriety  and 
decency,  and,  it  is  not  at  all  improbable,  surpassed  him 
in  the  vigor  of  his  reprobation  of  intemperance.  He 
extended  his  condemnation  beyond  the  bar  and  the 
"  grocery,"  as  the  saloon  was  then  always  called  when  it 
wasn't  called  "  doggery,"  and  took  in  the  distiller  and  the 
wholesale  dealer  as  equally  culpable.  There  was  no  beer 
drunk  in  those  days,  or  not  enough  to  make  it  worth 
associating  with  the  whiskey  that  the  corn  was  turned 


94        LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

into,  except,  as  the  old  woman  said,  "what  little  is 
wasted  in  bread."  The  distiller,  therefore,  got  not  only 
the  "  hot  end,"  but  the  whole  poker,  and  regarding  him- 
self, and  being  generally  regarded,  as  a  conspicuously 
respectable  member  of  society,  he  did  not  fancy  being 
associated  with  the  doggery-keeper  who  made  his  trade 
profitable.  A  Mr.  Comegys,  who  had  at  one  time  been 
engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in  Indianapolis,  but 
at  that  time  was  concerned  in  a  distillery  at  Lawrence- 
burg,  probably  took  huge  offence  at  the  "  unrespective  " 
preacher,  and  attacked  his  temperance  teachings  with 
more  violence  than  force  in  the  Journal.  Mr.  Beecher 
replied,  and  was  met  by  a  rejoinder  which  was  also  an- 
swered, the  controversy  running  through  two  or  three 
letters  on  each  side.  In  the  last  of  the  distiller's  publi- 
cations he  made  an  indiscreet  allusion  to  a  method  of 
refutation  that  suggested  a  threat  of  personal  chastise- 
ment. To  this  came  the  characteristic  retort  that  if 
there  was  to  be  a  fight  the  preacher  would  take  "  a 
woman  and  a  Quaker  as  his  seconds."  This  ended  the 
only  newspaper  controversy  that  the  famous  preacher 
ever  had  in  Indianapolis,  and  he  probably  never  had  a 
more  exciting  one  in  his  later  life. 

G.  W.  Sloan,  of  Indianapolis,  says  :  "  I  recall  an  anec- 
dote illustrating,  as  I  think,  Mr.  Beecher's  love  of  humor 
and  drollery.  He  was  naturally  cut  out  for  a  great 
actor.  Once  he  was  returning  from  Terre  Haute  to  India- 


HIS   MARRIAGE   AND   LIFE   IN   THE   WEST.  9$ 

napolis  in  a  stage-coach.  Mr.  Graydon,  a  prominent 
member  of  his  congregation,  got  into  the  coach  at  Green- 
castle.  It  was  dark,  and  after  jogging  along  a  little  way 
in  silence  Mr.  Beecher  disguised  his  voice  and  began 
making  inquiries  of  Mr.  Graydon  as  to  where  he  lived. 
When  he  learned  that  it  was  in  Indianapolis,  he  began  to 
ply  his  fellow-traveller  with  all  manner  of.  questions  ;  in- 
quired about  Beecher's  church  and  congregation,  and 
finally  about  Beecher  himself.  Mr.  Graydon  was  loyal, 
and  eulogized  Beecher  greatly.  The  hoax  was  discov- 
ered at  the  next  stopping-place." 

When  Mr.  Beecher  came  to  break  up  house-keeping  at 
Indianapolis,  he  divided  his  flowers  and  plants  among 
half  a  dozen  or  more  persons.  He  was  the  first  person 
to  bring  rare  plants  and  flowers  to  that  city  and  give  a 
taste  for  floriculture. 


CHAPTER  V. 

HE   BECOMES    PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH. 

The  Originating  Idea. — Site  Secured. — Beecher  invited  to  Preach. — His  Ser- 
mon on  the  Occasion. — Romans  xiv.  12. — He  returns  to  Indianapolis. 
— Completion  of  the  Organization. — The  Name  Plymouth  Adopted. — 
Beecher  the  Unanimous  Vote. — He  receives  a  Call  from  Plymouth 
Church. — Hesitates,  but  Accepts. — Inauguration  of  a  Long  Term  of 
Service. — Destruction  of  the  Church  by  Fire  in  1849. — ^  *s  Rebuilt. 
— A  Health  Trip  to  Europe. 

THE  idea  controlling  the  organization  of  Plymouth 
Church,  which  seems  to  have  originated  with  David 
Hale,  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce, 
was  "  to  combine  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims  in  a 
new  and  more  general  movement  to  introduce  democratic 
and  Puritan  principles  and  policy  in  ecclesiastical  affairs." 
Mr.  Hale  contended  that  Christians  should  unite  in  such 
a  way  as  to  make  their  influence  felt,  New  England 
fashion,  in  managing  church  affairs. 

The  property  then  known  as  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  was  purchased.  "  The  History  of  Plymouth 
Church,"  by  Noyes  L.  Thompson,  says : 

"  The  land,  eighty-eight  feet  by  two  hundred  feet,  com- 
prising seven  lots,  and  extending  from  Orange  Street  to 
Cranberry  Street,  now  occupied  by  the  Plymouth  Church 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.      97 

buildings,  formerly  belonged  to  the  Hicks  estate.  The 
Presbyterian  Society  purchased  it  of  John  and  Jacob  M. 
Hicks,  in  1823,  and  erected  thereon  an  edifice  fifty-six 
feet  by  seventy-two  feet,  with  a  front  on  Cranberry  Street, 
for  the  use  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  At  that 
time  the  population  of  Brooklyn  was  less  than  ten  thou- 
sand, and  many  thought  the  erection  of  a  church  "  out  in 
the  fields "  an  imprudent  step.  The  new  church,  con- 
trary to  the  predictions  of  the  would-be  prophets,  pros- 
pered, and  to  such  an  extent  that  an  addition  of  eighteen 
feet  to  the  building  was  soon  necessary.  In  1831  a  Lec- 
ture Room  (including  Sunday-school  rooms  and  a  study) 
thirty-six  feet  by  seventy-two  feet  was  attached. 

"  Rev.  Joseph  Sanford  was  the  first  pastor,  officiating 
in  that  capacity  from  1823  to  1829,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  Daniel  L.  Carrol,  D.D.,  who  was  followed 
by  Rev.  Samuel  H.  Cox,  D.D.,  in  1837,  an(*  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Cox  continued  their  pastor  after  the  removal  to  their 
new  house  of  worship  in  Henry  Street,  in  1847. 

"  Brooklyn's  population  in  1846  was  about  sixty  thou- 
sand, and  though  now  called  the  City  of  Churches,  pos- 
sessed then  only  thirty-nine  houses  of  worship  ;  of  these 
but  one  was  of  Congregational  denomination.  The  want 
of  another  Congregational  Church  soon  became  apparent, 
and  several  public-spirited  Christian  gentlemen — John  T. 
Howard,  Henry  C.  Bowen,  Seth  B.  Hunt,  and  David 
Hale — determined  to  supply  that  want.  The  new  First 


98        LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Presbyterian  Church  in  Henry  Street  was  almost  com- 
pleted, and  the  Cranberry  Street  property  had  been  of- 
fered for  sale  for  $25,000.  A  consultation  was  held  by 
these  gentlemen,  and  Mr.  Howard  was  authorized  to  ef- 
fect a  purchase,  if  possible ;  $20,000  ($9,500  payable  in 
cash,  and  the  residue,  $10,500,  to  remain  on  mortgage) 
was  offered,  and  in  June,  1846,  accepted." 

A  meeting  was  convened  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Henry 
C.  Bowen,  since  prominent  as  the  proprietor  of  The  In- 
dependent, for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  new  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Brooklyn,  in  accordance  with  their 
mutual  views.  Messrs.  Charles  Rowland,  David  Hale 
(prominent  as  the  editor  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce), 
Jira  Payne,  David  Griffin,  H.  C.  Bowen,  and  John 
T.  Howard  attended  this  meeting.  The  "  Plymouth 
Church  Manual  "  records  : 

"  The  meeting  was  opened  by  prayer ;  after  which 
David  Hale  made  some  statements  in  relation  to  the 
property  now  held  by  '  the  Plymouth  Church,'  and  then, 
in  behalf  of  himself  and  the  other  owners,  offered  the 
use  of  said  property  for  purpose  of  religious  worship,  as 
soon  as  the  premises  should  be  vacated  by  '  The  First 
Presbyterian  Church.'  Whereupon  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  religious  services  shall  be  commenced, 
by  Divine  permission,  on  Sunday,  the  i6th  day  of  May 
— that  being  the  first  Sabbath  after  the  house  was  to  be 
vacated." 


HE  BECOMES   PASTOR  OF  PLYMOUTH  CHURCH.      99 

Mr.  Beecher,  who  had  on  the  I4th  delivered  his  ad- 
dress before  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society  in  New 
York,  was  invited  to  deliver  the  opening  sermon  at  the 
New  Congregational  Meeting  House.  Mr.  William  T. 
Cutler  had  heard  Mr.  Beecher,  whom  he  knew  as  a  boy, 
preach  in  Indianapolis,  and  secured  him  the  invitation  to 
address  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  here  Mr. 
Bowen  had  listened  to  him  ;  and  both  of  them  were  en- 
thusiastic in  their  belief  that  he  would  be  a  good  selec- 
tion for  their  pastor.  The  Brooklyn  Eagle,  May  I5th, 
published  the  following  notice : 

"  New  Congregational  Church.  The  Congregational 
Church  in  Cranberry  Street  (late  Dr.  Cox's)  will  be 
opened  for  religious  worship  to-morrow  afternoon  and 
evening.  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  from  Indianapolis, 
Ind.,  is  expected  to  preach  in  the  morning  and  evening, 
and  Rev.  N.  H.  Eggleston,  from  Ellington,  Conn.,  in  the 
afternoon.  The  friends  of  the  new  enterprise,  also  all 
who  are  willing  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of  a  new 
church  in  that  section  of  the  city,  are  respectfully  in- 
vited to  attend."  It  is  a  little  singular  that  no  refer- 
ence is  made  in  this  notice  to  the  address  delivered  the 
day  before  by  Mr.  Beecher  before  the  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society,  as  it  was  considered  "  a  great  surprise  and 
masterly  effort,  the  reverend  gentleman  being  a  natural 
born  orator." 

There  was  a  good  attendance  at  the  morning  service, 


100      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

and  a  crowd  in  the  evening.  The  sermon  in  the  evening 
was  on  "  Man's  Accountability  to  God,"  the  text  being 
from  Romans  xiv.  12  :  "  So,  then,  every  one  of  us  shall 
give  account  of  himself  to  God."  In  reporting  the  ser- 
mon the  Tribune  reporter  remarks  : 

"The  speaker's  manner  was  forcible  and  impressive, 
and  the  discourse,  delivered  in  such  a  style,  could  not 
fail  of  producing  a  profound  effect,  as  was  visible  at  its 
close.  We  fear  that  in  some  instances  we  have  not  done 
justice  to  the  reverend  author  of  the  sermon.  We  were 
obliged  to  omit  several  passages  which  we  did  not  dis- 
tinctly hear,  and  in  one  or  two  cases  we  were  completely 
distanced  by  the  rapidity  with  which  the  speaker  uttered 
his  words." 

Mr.  Beecher's  sermon  was  as  follows : 

"  There  is  no  doctrine  which  takes  hold  of  men's  fears 
with  a  firmer  grasp  than  this  ;  and  when  it  is  understood 
to  include  the  whole  life — the  interior  and  the  exterior 
life — and  that  it  is  to  sum  up  every  thought  and  feeling, 
that  they  are  to  pass  a  critical  and  rigid  review,  and  that 
man's  final  destiny  is  to  be  determined  by  his  deeds  done 
in  the  body ;  when  the  doctrine  is  so  presented  and  felt 
by  men,  it  sometimes  works  their  reformation  and  re- 
pentance, and  oftentimes  it  works  mischief  to  them,  and 
they  strive  if  possible  to  avert  the  doctrine,  to  evade  its 
requirements ;  and  almost  all  the  popular  errors  which 
have  sprung  up  in  Theology  are  errors  whose  effect  has 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       IOI 

been  to  lighten  the  pressure,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
of  this  great  fundamental  doctrine  of  God's  government ; 
so  you  may  grade  these  errors  in  respect  to  their  bane- 
fulness,  according  to  the  degrees  in  which  they  omit  to 
teach  and  enforce  the  doctrine  of  man's  accountability 
to  God.  But  yet  what  avails  it  if  it  be  a  true  doctrine 
if  we  should  leave  it  out  of  all  our  theories  ?  It  is  a 
practical  and  personal  question,  and  one  pertinent  to 
every  individual  in  this  congregation.  If  it  be  a  hideous 
dream,  we  should  be  awakened  from  it.  If  it  be  a  sol- 
emn annunciation  from  the  God  of  Heaven  and  earth, 
we  should  attend  to  it,  and  make  a  practical  matter  of 
it.  To  those  who  are  satisfied  with  the  simple  declara- 
tion of  the  Bible,  that  there  is  such  a  scene  as  a  final 
judgment  to  take  place,  I  need  adduce  no  argument  to 
prove  that  men  will  give  account  of  themselves  to  God. 
They  believe  it  because  it  is  declared  in  simple  strains 
throughout  the  New  Testament.  But  there  are  many 
who  have  been  so  accustomed  to  read  these  declarations 
as  mere  unmeaning  assertions  possessing  no  Divine 
power  or  truth  ;  there  are  many  who  have  so  handled 
them  that  they  have  no  longer  any  significance  as  proof 
of  this  doctrine ;  and  merely  to  quote  texts  to  such,  is 
to  make  declarations  which  will  be  altogether  without 
force. 

"  I  purpose,  therefore,  instead  of  first  entering  into  the 
Bible  to  seek  for  evidence  to  support  this  doctrine,  to 
5 


102      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

take  another  course  of  argument,  and  ascertain  whether 
this  is  or  not  a  fundamental  principle  that  runs  through 
God's  government,  and  whether  it  is  or  not  inherent  in 
the  nature  of  man.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that 
there  is  abundant  evidence  outside  of  the  Bible  of  the 
truth  of  this  great  declaration,  that  we  are  to  be  held 
to  a  rigid  accountability  to  God  for  all  our  actions  and 
thoughts  in  this  world. 

"  Let  us  start,  then,  from  the  beginning,  and  take  man 
and  follow  him  up  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  through 
all  his  relations  of  life — his  relations  to  his  family,  his 
neighbors,  his  country — and  see  if  this  doctrine  is  not 
practically  acknowledged  by  him  throughout  his  entire 
career. 

"  And  first :  When  the  child  is  born  into  the  world 
and  becomes  a  member  of  a  family,  he  is  as  helpless  as 
helplessness  itself,  and  entirely  dependent  upon  those 
whose  duty  under  God  it  is  to  watch  over,  and  protect, 
and  nourish  him  ;  but  just  as  the  child  begins  to  develop 
its  understanding — just  as  it  begins  to  be  able  to  act  for 
itself — from  the  very  moment  that  it  begins  to  manifest 
its  preference  for  one  thing  over  another,  that  very  mo- 
ment it  is  met  on  the  threshold  of  life  by  parental  re- 
straint and  supervision  which  are  necessary  to  its  exist- 
ence. The  anxious  mother  is  ever  on  the  watch  lest  it 
should  come  to  harm.  It  may  not  take  poisonous  food 
— the  mother's  care  restrains  it;  it  may  not  fall  from 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       IO3 

precipitous  places — the  mother  rescues  it ;  it  may  not 
come  to  injury  or  harm — the  mother  ever  shields  it. 
And  not  alone  in  respect  to  these  things  is  it  restrained, 
but  the  governing  hand  of  the  parents  is  felt  in  all  its 
relations,  its  actions,  and  desires,  and  the  child  is  taught 
that  it  is  to  occupy  a  subordinate  position  in  the  family, 
and  be  subject  to  the  wishes  of  its  superiors.  It  is  taught 
that  there  must  be  certain  limits  to  its  wishes  and  ac- 
tions— that  the  parents  are  the  governors  of  the  family, 
that  there  are  others  to  participate  in  its  privileges,  and 
that  his  liberty  must  be  reduced  within  those  limits ; 
and  in  every  well-regulated  family  a  child  is  taught  to 
conform  itself  to  the  wishes  of  its  superiors  ;  and  just  in 
proportion  as  it  is  not  so  taught,  the  family  is  badly  gov- 
erned. So  that  the  very  first  experience  which  we  have 
when  we  come  into  life  is,  that  we  cannot  do  as  we  please. 
At  every  step  we  meet  with  restraint  and  coercion  ;  our 
wishes  are  opposed,  our  expectations  thwarted,  by  our 
guardians  continually. 

"  But  the  child  grows  older,  and  passes  out  for  a  time 
from  the  immediate  supervision  of  its  parents,  and  enters 
into  the  school,  where  it  is  surrounded  with  new  rela- 
tions. Does  it  drop  the  principle  here  ?  or  is  its  bind- 
ing force  augmented  ?  Why,  the  child  at  school,  the 
same  as  the  child  at  home,  is  under  the  control  and  gov- 
ernment of  its  parents ;  and  in  aspiring  into  another 
sphere  it  has  brought  itself  under  an  additional  responsi- 


104      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

bility.  The  child  now  is  not  alone  held  responsible  to 
its  parents,  but  to  its  teacher  also.  It  finds  that  in  all  its 
relations  in  the  school,  it  is  under  the  influence  of  this 
principle  of  accountability.  It  cannot  carry  out  its  own 
wishes  in  the  school-room.  The  teacher  is  there.  His 
authority  presses  upon  the  child,  and  reward  for  obedi- 
ence and  penalty  for  disobedience  cause  it  to  come  down 
to  its  proper  place,  and  he  feels  that  so  far  from  ridding 
himself  of  the  influence  of  this  principle  of  accountabil- 
ity by  entering  school,  he  has  greatly  added  to  it — that 
where  he  previously  had  one  governor  he  now  has  two. 

"  But  there  is  an  interval  between  school  and  home 
duties  ;  there  is  a  time  which  they  call  play-spell,  when 
they  are  no  longer  under  the  control  of  the  parent  or  of 
the  teacher ;  a  time  when  they  are  left  entirely  to  them- 
selves, with  no  one  to  command  them  or  thwart  their 
humors ;  and  now,  surely,  they  will  have  a  breathing- 
time  ;  now  they  can  cast  off  for  a  time  this  onerous  yoke 
of  accountability  and  revel  unrestrained  in  the  Utopia 
of  freedom.  But  no,  they  will  not ;  for  there  are  laws 
among  the  young  by  which  they  are  governed  as  with  a 
rod  of  iron.  Is  there  not  a  law  of  honor  among  all 
young  men,  to  which  they  must  yield  implicit  obedience  ? 
Can  they  go  against  the  ordinary  customs  and  usages  of 
the  circles  in  which  they  move  ?  To  be  sure,  they  do 
not  take  into  their  hands  the  same  authority  and  assume 
the  same  control  as  their  parents  and  teachers  do ;  but 


HE  BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.      IO5 

they  have  laws  of  their  own  which  must  be  obeyed,  and 
if  any  of  their  number  will  not  do  as  they  ought  to  do, 
they  are  cast  out  of  the  circle,  shunned  by  their  former 
associates,  and  made  to  feel  that  they  cannot  infringe 
with  impunity  upon  the  conventionalities  of  the  so- 
ciety in  which  they  move.  So,  then,  even  when  they 
are  without  the  influence  of  the  family  and  the  school, 
they  are  compelled  instantly  to  put  on  the  harness  of 
accountability,  as  if  they  could  not  live  without  it. 

"  Next,  the  youth  having  made  some  attainments  in 
learning,  and  coming  to  the  years  which  are  proper,  goes 
forth  to  learn  his  profession  or  trade,  and  in  this  new  re- 
lation of  life  does  he  lose  sight  of  this  principle,  or  does 
it  lose  sight  of  him  ?  Can  he  go  into  the  shop  of  the 
mechanic  as  an  apprentice  and  perform  such  service  as 
he  will  ?  No.  As  a  student  in  the  office  can  he  study 
when  and  what  he  will  ?  No.  In  whatever  vocation 
he  may  put  himself,  he  finds  that  he  is  responsible  to 
him  to  whom  he  is  bound  ;  he  is  obliged  to  obey  him, 
and  if  he  does  not,  he  loses  the  object  he  is  seeking  by 
his  connection  with  his  master. 

"  But  at  last  the  young  man  is  established.  He  has 
now  attained  to  years  of  discretion,  and  the  law  pro- 
nounces him  free  from  his  parents.  He  has  gained  the 
means  of  livelihood,  and  establishes  himself  in  business. 
And  is  he  not  now  released  from  this  law  ?  Is  he  not 
set  free  at  last  ?  No ;  by  no  means.  As  a  citizen,  he 


106      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

comes  under  the  law  of  the  land  ;  as  a  member  of  his 
neighborhood,  he  is  under  a  responsibility  to  his  neigh- 
bors. And  more  than  this,  there  is  no  calling  in  life 
that  is  independent  of  other  men.  Let  a  man  be  a  me- 
chanic, a  lawyer,  a  physician,  a  merchant,  or  what  he 
will,  he  will  find  that  he  must  conform  himself,  in  a 
measure,  to  the  wishes  and  opinions  of  those  by  whom 
he  is  surrounded.  Let  a  physician  assume  the  prepos- 
terous position  of  absolute  independence,  and  say,  '  I  am 
of  age,  and  will  have  my  opinions,  and  will  do  what  I 
please,  and  will  not  be  governed  or  influenced  by  my 
neighbors  or  professional  brethren  ; '  and  they  will  say, 
'  We  are  of  age,  and  we  will  have  our  opinions,  and  one 
among  the  rest  is,  that  you  are  not  fit  to  be  trusted  with 
the  life  of  a  fellow-being ;  and  you  may  get  your  living 
as  you  can — we  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  you.'  Let 
a  lawyer  do  the  same,  and  his  clients  will  have  a  very 
quiet  way  of  shutting  his  mouth,  and  will  give  him 
abundant  leisure  for  reflection  in  regard  to  his  philoso- 
phy of  independence  as  applied  to  business.  And  so  it  is 
in  every  vocation  of  life.  You  are  all  under  obligations 
to  regard  the  opinions  of  those  who  stand  around  you, 
who  are  to  help  you,  and  whom  you  are  to  help.  In  the 
great  Brotherhood  of  Man  no  one  can  say,  '  I  am  alone ; 
I  need  not  the  aid  of  others ;  I  will  not  regard  this  law 
of  accountability ;  I  will  not  respect  the  conventionali- 
ties of  society ;  I  am  independent  of  all.'  You  are  not 


HE  BECOMES   PASTOR  OF  PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       IO/ 

independent — you  are  responsible  to  those  around  you 
for  help.  This  web  of  mutual  responsibility  is  wove 
around  the  human  family,  and  if  you  will  not  regard  it, 
if  you  seek  to  break  through  it,  a  heavy  penalty  will  be 
inflicted  upon  you,  and  it  is  just  that  you  should  receive 
it. 

"  This  leads  me  to  speak  of  Civil  Government.  There 
is  not  a  tribe,  a  state,  or  a  people  on  the  globe  known 
to  exist  without  a  form  of  government,  ruder  or  more 
perfect.  I  apprehend  that  I  do  not  mistake  when  I  say 
that  there  never  did  exist  a  tribe  or  people  without 
some  form  of  government.  If  it  be  said  that  this  is  the 
result  of  man's  ignorance,  I  am  prepared  to  show  that 
the  very  contrary  is  the  fact ;  that  just  in  proportion  as 
men  grow  wiser,  the  more  government  they  have.  And 
there  are  no  communities  that  are  so  completely  bound 
and  wound  round,  and  round,  and  round  with  the  meshes 
of  civil  government  as  those  which  are  at  this  time  con- 
sidered the  most  learned  and  enlightened  on  the  globe. 
This  is  the  experience  of  six  thousand  years,  that  man 
cannot  live  wisely  and  well  without  some  system  of  gov- 
ernment, and  that  for  their  full  development  and  for 
their  rising  up  in  the  scale  of  progress  it  is  necessary  that 
they  should  be  under  a  just  and  healthy  accountability. 
Nay,  I  go  further ;  after  the  law  has  gone  as  far  as  it  is 
possible  for  it  to  go,  it  cannot  go  as  far  as  men  feel  there 
is  a  need  of  going,  and,  therefore,  whenever,  under  the 


io8     LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER. 

civil  and  social  laws  of  the  community,  men  confederate  for 
purposes  of  any  kind  whatever,  new  compacts  are  formed. 
They  always  build  these  upon  some  constitution :  rules 
or  regulations  having  their  expressed  or  implied  penal- 
ties. You  cannot  find  that  company  of  men  independ- 
ent of  all  these  obligations  which  society  is  under  and 
which  every  individual  in  society  is  under  to  all  around 
him. 

"  We  are  not  yet  done  unravelling  this  web  which  is 
woven  around  men  until  we  see  where  this  principle  is 
carried  in  society.  Men  are  accountable  for  their  feelings 
and  their  opinions  as  well  as  their  conduct. 

"  It  may  seem  strange  to  say  that  men  are  held  account- 
able for  their  opinions  ;  but  they  are,  and  will  be  forever 
— and  that,  too,  in  the  freest  land,  and  under  the  most 
liberal  government.  For  instance,  let  any  prominent 
man  in  either  of  the  great  political  parties  of  this  country 
stand  up  and  affirm  his  repugnance  to  any  one  of  the 
great  principles  of  his  party.  Let  it  be  understood  that 
he  is  advocating  and  disseminating  principles  and  opin- 
ions which  are  abhorrent  to  that  party,  and  what  will  be 
the  result  ?  They  cannot  imprison  him ;  they  cannot 
lay  hold  on  him  and  load-him  with  chains,  and  thrust 
him  into  the  dark  dungeon  of  the  criminal — but  they  can 
ostracise  him ;  and  now  let  him,  regardless  of  his  own 
private  interests,  and  anxious  only  to  serve  his  country 
by  representing  his  fellow-citizens  in  her  legislative 


HE  BECOMES   PASTOR   OF  PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.      IOO, 

halls,  attempt  to  run  for  any  office,  and  there  will  be 
those  letters  called  votes,  which  will  silently  but  surely 
spell  out  his  condemnation,  and  he  will  be  allowed  the 
privilege  of  remaining  at  home,  freed  from  the  cares 
and  toils  of  office. 

"  Men  are  not  only  held  accountable  for  their  opinions 
and  feelings  by  the  Church,  but  by  the  popular  sentiment 
also.  To  be  sure,  there  are  many  feelings  and  sentiments 
condemned  by  the  Church  that  the  general  community 
does  not  reprobate ;  but  the  general  community  requires 
from  its  members  a  respect  for  all  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  honesty  and  justice,  and  he  who  is  guilty  of  any 
transgression  of  them  is  instantly  girdled  by  the  scorn 
of  the  community  in  which  he  resides. 

"  Let  a  man  dwell  in  your  household — let  it  be  known 
to  you  that  he  revolves  base  and  dishonorable  purposes 
in  his  mind  that  will  never  take  the  form  of  outward  de- 
velopment and  actions,  and  you  will  immediately  take 
measures  to  remove  him  from  your  family,  that  they  may 
not  be  exposed  to  the  possibility  of  contamination  by 
coming  in  contact  with  his  baleful  mind.  And  so  in  the 
general  community.  Suppose  the  case  of  a  young  man 
in  indigent  circumstances,  who  comes  to  your  city  to 
build  up  his  fortune — to  gain  a  profession.  His  father 
and  his  mother  make  every  sacrifice  to  assist  him  ;  they 
toil  in  poverty  that  they  may  secure  his  success — that 
they  may  give  him  an  education — and  it  is  said  that  he 
5* 


IIO      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

has  literally  consumed  them  to  profit  himself,  and  at 
last,  with  joy  in  their  hearts  and  tears  in  their  eyes,  they 
hear  of  his  triumph  in  this  metropolis ;  with  fond  antici- 
pations of  the  grateful  reception  which  they  will  receive 
at  his  hands,  they  come  to  visit  him  in  his  splendid  man- 
sion. But,  when  he  hears  of  their  coming,  instead  of 
rushing  to  meet  them  with  open  arms  and  a  heart  over- 
flowing with  filial  love  and  gratitude,  and  escorting  them 
to  his  own  home  and  introducing  them  to  his  family  and 
friends  as  the  author  of  his  being,  and  those  to  whom, 
under  God,  he  is  indebted  for  the  position  and  prosperity 
he  now  enjoys,  he  goes  out  alone  to  meet  them,  and 
conducts  them  to  some  secret  place  where  his  fash- 
ionable friends  will  not  see  them,  and  where  he  visits 
them  furtively;  for  he  is  ashamed  of  his  father  and 
mother — not  on  account  of  their  minds,  but  on  account 
of  their  rude  dress  and  manners.  Now  let  this  fact 
be  known  in  the  circles  in  which  he  moves — let  him 
visit  at  your  house ;  with  what  face  will  you  receive 
him  ?  You  will  manifest  an  irrepressible  indignation  at 
such  base  and  inhuman  conduct — and  why?  He  has 
not  broken  any  law  ?  No  ;  but  you  say  that  you  have 
detected  in  him  feelings  unworthy  of  a  man,  and  he  very 
soon  perceives  that  his  want  of  feeling  is  reprobated,  and 
in  future  he  is  careful  to  guard  against  any  public  exhibi- 
tion of  his  unnatural  disposition,  although  at  heart  he  is 
the  same  inhuman  monster  as  before.  The  consequence 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       Ill 

of  all  this  is,  that  men  veil  their  corrupt  inclinations 
under  the  garb  of  seeming  virtue  ;  and  thus  all  bad  men 
are  compelled,  by  the  force  of  popular  opinion,  to  be- 
come hypocrites.  Men  are  very  fond  of  talking  about 
the  hypocrisy  of  the  Church.  God  knows  there  is 
enough  of  it  there ;  but  when  compared  with  the  hypoc- 
risy out  of  the  Church,  it  sinks  into  nothingness. 

"  The  last  step  we  shall  take  is  in  respect  to  that  class 
of  men  in  our  nation  which  have  gone  steadily  down 
from  one  step  to  another,  till  they  can  be  no  longer  tol- 
erated in  the  community.  They  have  gone  down  regu- 
larly from  point  to  point ;  their  specific  gravity  has  sunk 
them  down  and  down  into  the  abyss  of  crime,  until  they 
are  appropriately  called  OUTLAWS.  Now  at  last  we  have 
got  at  a  class  of  men  who  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  this 
accountability.  It  was  because  they  hated  restraint  that 
they  went  down.  They  loved  progression,  and  they  went 
down  and  down  and  down  till  they  could  get  at  a  wider 
circle,  where  they  might  act  out  the  innate  depravity  of 
their  natures  without  any  restraint  from  their  fellow-men, 
and  indeed  it  would  seem  that — now  they  have  got  be- 
yond the  last  bond  of  society — they  will  be  freed  from 
this  principle  of  accountability.  But,  ah  !  how  mistaken. 
There  are  laws  among  thieves,  and  in  the  vilest  bandit's 
den  that  ever  darkened  the  mountain-side,  and  on  the 
bloodiest  deck  of  the  pirate's  ship  there  are  masters  and 
a  rule  more  iron  than  the  peaceful  denizens  of  a  Chris- 


112      LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY   WARD  BEECHER. 

tian  community  can  conceive  of.  So  that  when  men  by 
reason  of  their  hatred  of  restraint  have  thrown  them- 
selves wholly  out  of  society,  they  have  found  that  they 
could  not  get  rid  of  their  own  nature  so  easily  as  they 
could  of  human  laws.  They  must  be  governed  by  these 
or  by  themselves. 

"  I  have  attempted  simply  to  prove,  by  reference  to 
facts  such  as  would  be  allowed  in  any  scientific  argument, 
that  the  law  of  accountability  to  God  is  carried  out  in 
all  the  relations  of  life.  We  have  seen  that  it  is  carried 
into  every  sphere  of  human  action,  and  hence  it  is  unne- 
cessary that  we  should  declare,  as  we  do  declare,  that  the 
law  of  accountability  to  God  is  the  universal  law  of  the 
universe,  and  that  it  is  just  as  universal  as  breath  is. 

"  We  now  come  back  to  the  Bible,  and  ask  ourselves, 
What  does  that  teach  ?  It  professes  to  be  the  exposition 
of  man's  character,  and  the  revelator  of  God's  principles 
of  government,  as  they  relate  to  man.  And  now  it  is  not 
necessary  to  take  text  after  text  and  chip  and  chip  them 
to  make  them  fit  one  another ;  it  is  not  necessary  to  put 
one  text  after  another  to  torture  in  order  to  prove  that 
man  is  accountable  to  God.  We  find  that  if  there  never 
had  been  a  word  spoken  in  the  Bible  in  relation  to  this 
subject  we  could  draw  up  this  doctrine  just  as  plainly 
from  the  facts  as  we  now  can.  The  Bible  simply  declares 
of  that  which  existed  before  ;  it  was  not  the  promulgation 
of  an  arbitrary  law,  it  was  simply  the  declaration  of  the 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       1 13 

existence  of  that  which  God  made  when  He  made  all 
things.  And  indeed  it  may  be  said  that  if  the  Bible,  pro- 
posing to  be  a  revelation  of  the  laws  of  God  to  man,  had 
omitted  this  doctrine,  it  would  have  cast  a  doubt,  a  shade, 
upon  the  sacred  Word  itself.  What  would  you  think  of 
a  Bible  that  forgot  to  say  that  there  is  a  God  ?  and  what 
would  be  said  of  a  Bible  that  should  attempt  to  teach 
the  relations  of  God,  and  of  man  to  God,  and  should  leave 
out  the  doctrine  of  man's  accountability  to  God. 

"  I  am  now  prepared,  in  the  light  of  this  subject,  to 
discuss  one  or  two  points  that  are  relevant.  The  first  is 
the  objection  that  is  made  by  a  certain  class  of  reasoners. 
It  is  said  if  there  be  established  such  a  law  throughout 
society,  it  goes  against  your  position — men  will  be  pun- 
ished here  and  not  hereafter.  We  say,  Thank  you.  If 
men  are  punished  here,  it  does  not  follow  that  they  will 
not  be  punished  in  the  life  to  come.  This  is  a  question 
of  fact.  I  admit  that  there  are  punishments  in  every  de- 
partment of  the  world.  God  has  fixed  natural  and  con- 
stitutional punishment  as  guards  against  the  infraction 
of  natural  and  constitutional  laws.  They  are  not  aveng- 
ing punishments,  however,  but  precautionary.  If  there 
is  a  precipice  over  which  men  will  be  likely  to  fall,  the 
authorities  place  a  bridge  over  it,  not  to  punish,  but  to 
prevent,  accident.  If  a  man  draws  near  to  a  poisonous  sub- 
stance, an  odor  will  meet  him  offensive  to  his  sense,  but 
it  is  that  he  may  avoid  the  threatened  danger.  All  these 


114      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

evils  are  precautionary.  And  so  throughout  Nature ;  but 
it  is  not  necessary — indeed,  it  will  not  be  possible — here  to 
specify  all  these  precautions  and  warnings  which  God  has 
planted  so  thickly  throughout  all  his  creation. 

"  Now  if  men  are  punished  in  this  world  for  their  sins, 
it  can  be  shown  that  their  punishment  is  graduated  in 
proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  their  crimes.  The  fact, 
however,  is  not  so,  but  contrariwise ;  it  is  established 
that  men  never  suffer  so  much  as  when  they  are  the 
youngest  and  the  newest  in  sin.  When  a  man  first  be- 
gins to  steal,  he  has  more  fear  and  more  shame  than 
when  he  has  become  an  inveterate  offender.  I  remember 
the  time  when  I  swore  the  first  oath.  It  seemed  as 
though  every  leaf  on  the  trees  and  every  blade  of  grass 
were  vocal  in  their  condemnation  of  my  sin.  The  very 
sky  seemed  to  lower  upon  me,  and  all  Nature  raised  the 
note  of  reproof.  But  in  after-days,  under  the  demoraliz- 
ing influence  of  bad  company,  I  became  able  to  use  pro- 
fane language  without  a  blush — without  the  least  remorse 
of  conscience ;  and  finally,  without  being  conscious  of  the 
language  I  employed. 

"  How  is  it,  when  a  man  in  an  affray  first  draws  the 
blood  of  his  fellow-creature,  his  hand  draws  back,  as  if  it 
were  scalding  hot,  and  dreams  terrify  him,  and  he  is 
haunted  for  months  by  the  bleeding  victim  of  his  rage. 
But  let  him  go  from  fray  to  fray,  and  by-and-by  butchery 
will  become  a  mere  excitement.  In  the  lower  parts  of 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       11$ 

our  own  country,  so  much  is  this  the  case,  that  a  fray  is 
sought  as  a  cup  is  sought — merely  as  a  pleasant  excite- 
ment wherewith  to  while  away  the  time.  It  needs  no 
argument  to  prove  that  in  proportion  as  men  go  down  in 
this  world,  just  in  that  proportion  they  lose  their  sensi- 
bility— till  at  last  it  becomes  seared  as  with  a  red-hot 
iron ;  and  this  being  the  case,  what  becomes  of  the  doc- 
trine of  punishment  in  this  life  ?  Just  in  proportion  as 
their  crimes  increase,  their  punishment  decreases;  the 
further  they  get  from  rectitude  the  lighter  are  their  suf- 
ferings. According  to  this  doctrine,  a  man  should  go  the 
whole  figure  and  commit  crimes  wholesale.  They  that 
nibble  at  transgression  are  the  greater  fools,  and  they 
that  go  deep  into  crime  are  the  wise.  This  is  a  dreadful 
but  still  a  true  doctrine.  This  subject  also  affords  some 
light  to  that  popular  and  mischievous  maxim  that  it 
makes  no  difference  what  a  man  believes  if  he  is  only 
sincere.  Where  can  we  find  any  such  law  as  that  except 
in  the  code  of  the  reasoners  ?  Does  it  make  no  difference 
in  the  laws  of  Nature  ?  Suppose  a  man  jumps  from  the 
top  of  a  high  building  upon  the  pavement,  and  says,  I 
believe  those  flag-stones  as  soft  as  downy  pillows,  does 
Nature  any  the  less  dash  him  in  pieces  ?  Suppose  a  man 
should  attempt  to  produce  pleasure  in  himself  by  taking 
poisonous  substances,  or  suppose  he  should  breathe  as 
well  under  water  as  in  the  air  of  heaven,  and  should 
plunge  beneath  the  waves  of  the  deep,  what  would  Nat" 


Il6      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ure  care  for  his  sincerity  ?  Try  this  principle  under  the 
civil  law.  Is  it  no  matter  what  a  man  believes  under 
the  civil  laws  ?  Will  he  be  excused  the  commission 
of  crime,  if  he  only  says  he  is  sincere  ?  Can  you  find  a 
judge  who  will  charge  a  jury  thus,  or  a  lawyer  who  will 
urge  such  a  plea  in  defence  of  a  client,  when  it  has  been 
a  maxim  from  time  immemorial  that  ignorance  of  the 
law  excuses  no  man  ?  Try  the  same  principle  in  mercan- 
tile life.  Let  a  man  under  your  employment  be  sent  to 
a  distant  point  to  transact  some  important  business.  He 
makes  a  blunder  and  loses  hundreds  of  dollars,  and  his 
excuse  for  it  is  his  sincerity ;  the  blunder  is  repeated,  and 
he  loses  thousands ;  and  when  you  reprove  him  for  his 
carelessness,  his  only  excuse  is,  '  I  was  sincere  in  believ- 
ing that  I  was  acting  in  a  manner  which  would  best  pro- 
mote your  interests.'  You  would  reply,  '  Your  sincerity 
is  none  the  less  ruinous,  and  I  must  discharge  you.' 

"  Try  the  same  principle  in  respect  to  your  own  feel- 
ings. Suppose  a  man  should  say  you  are  a  knave,  and 
upon  your  asking  for  an  explanation  he  should  say,  '  I 
admit  that  I  said  so,  but  I  now  acknowledge  that  I  did 
wrong ;  I  was  in  a  passion  at  the  time,  and  said  it  in 
haste.  I  am  sorry  for  what  I  have  done,  and  I  ask  your 
forgiveness.'  This  would  be  a  balm  for  your  wounded 
feelings,  and  you  would  freely  forgive  him.  But  sup- 
pose that,  instead  of  this,  he  should  say,  '  I  did  call  you 
a  knave,  and  I  believed  it,  and  I  believe  it  now.'  This 


HE  BECOMES  PASTOR  OF  PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.      llj 

* 

would  be  the  most  venomous  part  of  it.  You  would 
say,  '  It  is  not  enough  that  you  be  sincere ;  you  must 
substantiate  your  belief  by  proof.  I  will  have  recourse 
to  the  law.'  And  if  you  hold  to  the  principle  of  saying 
what  you  think  is  true,  regardless  of  the  feelings  and 
character  of  others,  you  shall  bear  the  penalty  of  it. 

"  Now  here  is  a  principle  that  is  false  in  every  depart- 
ment of  life,  till  you  come  into  morals — and  that  prin- 
ciple which  business  would  not  for  a  moment  support 
is  applied  and  insisted  upon  in  arguing  moral  and  re- 
ligious questions.  It  does  make  a  difference  what  we 
believe.  God  will  hold  us  accountable  for  our  belief 
just  as  true  as  He  will  hold  us  accountable  for-our  ac- 
tions. 

"  The  only  inference  I  will  attend  to  is  this  :  that  God 
will  hold  men  accountable  for  their  opinions  under  the 
Gospel  and  for  what  they  know.  Then  it  may  be  said 
it  will  be  best  for  them  not  to  know  too  much.  But  He 
will  hold  them  accountable  for  what  they  do  not  know 
that  they  should  know. 

"  For  example  : .  a  miserly  and  selfish  guardian  of  a  de- 
fenceless orphan  appropriates  to  himself  the  whole  estate 
of  his  ward,  and  upon  the  fact  being  known,  a  suit  is 
brought  by  the  friends  of  the  orphan  to  recover  the 
property.  It  is  found  to  be  a  clear  case  of  fraud,  and  the 
estate  can  be  easily  regained.  The  whole  community  is 
aroused,  and  all  their  sympathies  are  with  the  aggrieved 


Il8      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

orphan.  At  length  the  trial  comes  on — the  jury  is  im- 
panelled and  the  case  opened.  And  while  the  evidence 
is  going  on  one  juryman  is  reading  a  newspaper,  another 
is  talking  to  a  friend,  and  several  are  asleep,  as  if  they 
were  in  church.  When  they  go  out,  they  remember 
nothing  about  the  merits  of  the  case.  They  put  one 
thing  and  another  together,  and  come  out  and  give  a 
verdict,  not  in  favor  of  the  injured  plaintiff,  but  in  favor 
of  the  defendant. 

"  Now  what  will  the  people  say  to  these  jurymen  ? 
One  of  them  some  time  after  this  occurrence  is  a  humble 
seeker  to  serve  the  people  by  going  to  Congress.  He  is 
remembered,  and  it  will  be  said,  This  is  one  of  the  men 
that  served  that  infamous  course  on  that  jury.  And  he 
says,  in  extenuation  of  his  conduct,  '  It  was  my  desire  to 
render  a  verdict  in  accordance  with  the  evidence,  but  / 
did  not  know  what  it  was !  '  '  Did  not  know  what  it 
was  ! '  some  sturdy  old  farmer  would  say  to  him  ;  '  what 
were  you  put  there  for,  if  it  was  not  for  the  express 
purpose  of  hearing  the  evidence  and  rendering  a  just 
verdict  ?  Your  excuse  only  stamps  you  with  a  deeper 
disgrace  than  your  false  verdict  had  already  done,  and  is 
proof  positive  of  your  unfitness  to  fill  any  station  requir- 
ing common  watchfulness  and  honesty.' 

"  Now  God  has  given  the  light  of  Jesus  Christ.  God 
has  stopped  the  career  of  His  whole  government  and  in- 
terposed a  new  system.  God  has  rent  the  heavens  in 


HE  BECOMES  PASTOR  OF  PLYMOUTH  CHURCH.   119 

twain  that  He  might  bring  the  truth  to  light  and  life  and 
immortality.  Star  after  star  in  bright  constellations  have 
beamed  out  and  Jesus  Christ  has  brought  truth  to  light. 
Truth  preached,  truth  sent  through  the  Bible,  and 
through  a  living  ministry  to  the  whole  people.  And 
now,  if  anyone  seeks  to  evade  it  and  avoid  it,  God  will 
hold  every  such  guilty  man  accountable  for  his  ignorance. 
The  truth  is  here,  and  it  is  your  greatest  interest  to  know 
it,  and  you  are  ignorant  of  it  at  your  peril. 

"  Finally,  if  this  doctrine  is  true,  what  will  be  the 
account  that  we  have  to  give  to  God  ? 

"  I  remark  that  you  will  have  to  give  an  account  be- 
fore God  in  respect  to  your  relations  to  yourself,  to  one 
another,  and  to  God. 

"  Let  us  see  how  many  points  there  are  under  each  of 
these  heads  : 

"  First,  the  duties  which  refer  more  particularly  to 
ourselves. 

"  Each  of  you  will  have  to  give  an  account  to  God  for 
your  time — for  every  hour,  for  every  moment.  You 
will  have  to  give  an  account  to  God  for  every  power  of 
mind— for  the  use  of  every  one,  for  the  culture  of  every 
one ;  for  every  power  of  thought  and  imagination  ;  for 
all  your  religious  and  social  faculties.  He  will  call  you 
to  account  for  all  your  passions  and  motives — for  all 
your  conduct.  My  friend,  you  may  well  feel  some  ter- 
rors when  you  reflect  that  all  that  conduct  of  which  you 


I2O      LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

were  so  ashamed  will  be  revealed  by  the  Almighty  in 
the  dread  Day  of  Judgment,  and  you  will  be  compelled 
to  look  on  it,  and  your  neighbor  will  look  on  it,  and  all 
the  assembled  hosts  of  heaven  and  hell  shall  look  upon 
it,  and  upon  you  as  the  author  of  it.  And  to  those  who 
do  not  now  feel  any  terrors,  I  would  say  that  there  is  a 
day  of  terror  coming  when  God  will  call  you  to  account 
for  all  the  Divine  efforts  made  in  your  behalf — for  all  the 
special  Providences  that  have  been  sent  to  your  door — 
for  all  the  personal  influences  that  have  ever  been  brought 
to  bear  upon  you  in  the  sanctuary  or  out  of  the  sanctu- 
ary. 

"  Secondly  :  God  will  call  you  to  account  for  all  the 
duties  which  you  owe  to  others — for  the  discharge  of 
your  public  duties  as  citizens. 

"  Are  you  an  officer  ?  God  will  hold  you  to  a  strict 
account  for  the  manner  in  which  the  duties  of  that  office 
are  discharged.  I  am  afraid,  my  friends,  from  the  signs 
of  the  times,  that  this  doctrine  is  not  much  preached  or 
understood ;  namely,  that  God  will  hold  those  in  place 
to  a  higher  account  than  those  beneath  them.  God  will 
call  you  to  account  for  the  manner  in  which  in  this  life 
you  discharge  your  duties  to  your  family,  your  neighbor- 
hood, your  town,  your  State,  and  your  whole  land.  An 
inert  citizen,  an  unpatriotic  man,  will  have  something  to 
answer  for  at  the  bar  of  God.  Every  time  you  have 
voted  those  lots  which  were  right  and  just  God  has 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       121 

noted  them  down,  though  men  have  not.  And  you  will 
be  called  to  account  for  all  the  opportunities  to  do  good 
that  you  have  neglected  to  improve.  If  there  is  a  young 
man  in  this  world  that  might  have  been  held  back  from 
intemperance  by  you,  and  you  did  not  do  it,  God  will 
hold  you  accountable  for  it.  It  is  not  a  safe  thing  for  a 
man  to  neglect  to  do  good  in  this  world. 

"  For  all  of  the  influences  you  have  exerted  intention- 
ally or  unintentionally,  God  will  call  you  to  account. 
There  are  many  men  who  study  to  exert  a  malign  influ- 
ence upon  their  fellows.  Well,  let  them  do  it.  They 
wag  their  empty  .heads,  and  sowing  themselves  down 
through  the  streets  independent  and  free  to  do  what  they 
choose.  '  The  world  owes  me  a  living,'  say  they,  '  and  I 
will  have  it.  I  care  for  no  man.  I  care  for  no  law,  for 
no  public  opinion.'  God  has  His  eye  upon  them.  No 
archer  ever  drew  a  surer  bow  upon  his  devoted  game 
than  God  has  done  upon  these  men,  and  His  avenging 
bolt  will  fall  with  tenfold  terror  on  their  heads  when  they 
shall  find  the  grave  yawning  to  receive  them,  and  fearful 
will  be  their  fate  when  the  black  billows  of  death  shall 
sweep  them  resistless  to  their  inexorable  doom. 

"  In  a  less  degree  it  is  no  less  true  that  a  man's  unin- 
tentional offences  will  have  to  be  accounted  for.  Is  there 
a  man  in  this  congregation  who  has  children  that  he 
loves  ?  Have  they  ever  heard  the  voice  of  prayer  raised 
in  grateful  acknowledgment  from  before  the  family  altar 


122      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

to  the  Dispenser  of  all  good  ?  That  dear  and  beloved 
daughter,  that  son  growing  up  now  into  man's  estate, — 
has  not  the  whole  of  your  conduct  been  such  as  to  prac- 
tically teach  them  that  there  is  no  God  ?  You  may  have 
told  them  of  God  in  a  casual  manner,  the  same  as  you 
have  of  Alexander ;  and  you  may  have,  in  a  formal,  life- 
less manner,  informed  them  that  it  is  their  duty  to 
obey  God,  and  to  love  and  serve  Him.  But  your  life — 
your  whole  warm,  spontaneous  life — has  ever  preached  a 
doctrine  exactly  the  reverse ;  and  which  do  you  suppose 
a  child  will  believe  first,  a  father's  talk  or  a  father's  life  ? 
Most  unquestionably  the  latter ;  and  if  that  has  told 
your  children  that  all  that  God  requires  from  His  children 
is  lip-service,  and  they  grow  up  without  ever  coming  to  a 
knowledge  of  God's  saving  mercy,  and  their  souls  are 
finally  lost,  God  will  hold  them  accountable  in  their  meas- 
ure, but  you  will  be  held  accountable  also,  as  accessary  to 
their  guilt,  and  fearful  will  be  the  dread  account  which 
you  will  have  to  meet. 

"  Lastly :  for  all  our  duties  toward  God  we  shall  be 
brought  to  a  strict  account. 

"  For  the  way  in  which  we  have  treated  the  overtures 
of  mercy  made  us  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  the 
hardening  of  our  hearts  against  the  persuasive  influences 
and  efforts  of  our  blessed  Redeemer  for  our  salvation, 
God  will  call  us  to  account.  Is  there  a  man  in  this  con- 
gregation who  will  say,  I  say  I  do  not  believe  God  will 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       123 

punish  me  for  all  through  eternity  for  my  little  sins  ? 
Give  me  your  hand  on  that.  You  have  so  many  great 
sins  that  God  will  have  enough  to  do  to  punish  you  for 
them  alone,  without  taking  into  the  account  what  you 
are  pleased  to  style  your  little  sins.  For  defiling  your 
whole  nature,  for  the  prostitution  of  your  powers,  for 
turning  yourselves  who  were  the  sons  of  God  into  base 
materials  of  the  flesh — for  this  destruction  of  yourselves 
God  will  call  you  to  a  strict  account.  And  can  you  meet 
that  account  ?  Dare  any  man  say  I  am  ready  to  make 
the  venture  ? 

"  There  are  some  men  who  will  not  go  to  heaven,  be- 
cause they  are  so  very  moral ;  they  wish  to  go  with  the 
understanding  that  they  are  entitled  to  the  favor  or  else 
not  at  all.  They  do  not  feel  willing  to  accept  heaven  as 
a  boon  granted  by  the  infinite  love  of  a  merciful  God,  but 
they  desire  to  merit  it  through  their  own  good  works. 
They  will  not  go  up  to  heaven's  gate  and  plead  the  aton- 
ing blood  of  the  blessed  Lamb  of  God  as  their  passport 
into  the  Heavenly  Land — the  home  of  the  redeemed — but 
they  offer  in  exchange  for  the  delights  and  pleasures  of 
eternity  the  meagre  catalogue  of  their  own  actions  here 
on  earth.  Is  it  strange  their  offer  is  not  accepted  ?  As 
for  myself,  I  know  what  I  will  do  when  God  calls  my 
soul  to  judgment.  I  know  when  I  shall  look  back  upon 
my  life  it  will  be  folly  to  attempt  to  justify  anything  that 
I  have  ever  done.  I  will  turn  to  Christ  and  say,  Thou 


124      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

hast  promised  to  save  me  if  I  would  trust  in  Thee,  and  I 
have  trusted  in  Thee,  and  now  I  claim  the  fulfilment  of 
Thy  promise,  O  Lord !  Here  I  am,  and  my  only  hope 
is  in  Thee.  And  then  Christ  will  throw  around  about 
me  the  shield  of  His  righteousness,  not  because  I  am  not 
a  sinner,  but  because  I  am  a  sinner,  loved  and  shielded 
of  Christ.  But  you  refuse  to  take  this  Christ  at  His 
word,  you  reject  His  promise,  and  therefore  He  will  re- 
ject you. 

"  My  friends,  I  am  speaking  to  some  of  you  for  the  last 
time.  You  and  I  will  meet  again  on  the  Judgment  Day, 
and  I  am  now  telling  you  how  much  you  stand  in  need 
of  a  Saviour,  of  that  Saviour  whom  my  soul  has  felt,  and 
whom  my  soul  loves.  I  offer  Him  to  you,  and  I  will  do 
it  with  all  that  sincerity,  and  all  that  earnestness,  with 
which  I  shall  wish  I  had  when  I  meet  you  at  the  bar  of 
God.  Oh,  my  friends,  will  you  not  begin  now  to  be  wise, 
before  the  saving  influences  of  God's  Holy  Spirit  are  with- 
drawn from  your  hearts,  and  these  things  are  hidden  from 
your  sight  forever  ?  Death  is  coming,  and  after  that  the 
judgment,  and  after  that  eternity.  My  fathers,  you  who 
have  experienced  the  benefits  of  God's  mercy  for  many 
years,  where  will  you  be  on  that  day  ?  Were  God  to  call 
you  hence  this  night,  what  would  be  your  chances  for 
heaven  ?  My  dear  friends,  what  would  be  your  chances 
of  heaven  were  you  called  hence  to-night  ?  Jesus  Christ 
is  ready  to  take  all  who  desire  salvation,  and  I  preach 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       12$ 

Him  once  for  all — Christ,  the  sinner's  friend  and  your 
friend." 

Mr.  Beecher  created  such  a  favorable  impression  by 
his  two  discourses  that  the  opinion  previously  entertained 
of  him  by  Messrs.  Bowen  and  Cutler  was  generally  in- 
dorsed, and  the  little  congregation  determined,  if  possible, 
to  secure  the  pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Indianapolis,  when  the  organization  should  have  been 
completed. 

It  was  announced  that  morning  that  there  would  be  a 
continued  series  of  weekly  prayer-meetings,  commencing 
on  the  succeeding  Friday  evening,  in  the  lecture-room. 
About  thirty  persons  attended  the  meeting  on  the  ensu- 
ing Friday,  nearly  all  of  whom  expressed  a  wish  to  join 
the  church  at  its  organization.  At  the  close  of  the  ser- 
vices, which  were  conducted  by  Jira  Payne,  a  business 
meeting  was  convened,  and,  to  quote  from  the  "  Plymouth 
Manual,"  "  On  motion  of  David  Hale,  from  New  York, 
John  T.  Howard,  Henry  C.  Bowen,  Richard  Hale, 
Charles  Rowland,  and  Jira  Payne  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  make  arrangements  for  the  formation  of 
a  church ;  to  prepare  and  report  Articles  of  Faith  and  a 
Covenant,  a  form  of  admission,  ecclesiastical  principles 
and  rules,  manual  for  business,  etc.  Also  to  give  notice, 
the  following  Sabbath,  to  all  persons  who  desired  to  be 
connected  with  the  church  at  its  organization  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  next  Friday  evening  prayer-meeting. 


126     LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY  WARD   BEECHER. 

"  At  the  two  subsequent  prayer  meetings,"  continues 
the  "  Manual,"  "  twenty-one  persons  handed  in  their 
names  to  be  organized  into  a  church.  On  Friday  even- 
ing, June  i  ith,  the  committee  appointed  to  prepare  Arti- 
cles of  Faith,  etc.,  made  their  report,  which,  after  some 
amendments,  was  adopted,  and  notice  given  that  the 
church  would  be  organized  on  the  following  Sabbath 
evening. 

"  A  council  of  ministers  and  delegates  from  other 
churches  convened  at  the  house  of  John  T.  Howard,  on 
Saturday  evening,  June  I2th,  by  invitation  of  the  com- 
mittee, who  presented  to  said  council  the  Articles  of 
Faith  and  Covenant  adopted,  also  the  credentials  of 
those  persons  who  expected  to  be  organized  into  a 
church." 

The  council  consisted  of — 

REV.  RICHARD  S.  STORRS,  JR.,  Pastor. 
CHANDLER  STARR,  Delegate. 

From  the  Church  of  the  Pilgrims. 
REV.  I.  N.  SPRAGUE,  Pastor. 
A.  B.  DAVENPORT,  Delegate. 

From  the  Second  Congregational  Church. 
REV.  J.  P.  THOMPSON,  Pastor. 
DAVID  HALE,  Delegate. 

From  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church, 
New  York. 


HE  BECOMES  PASTOR  OF  PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       12J 

REV.  D.  C.  LANSING,  D.D.,  Pastor. 
SEYMOUR  WHITING,  Delegate. 

From  the  Chrystie  Street  Congregational 
Church,  New  York. 

The  council  approved  the  actions  of  the  committee, 
and  accepted  an  invitation  to  participate  in  the  public 
services  of  the  organization,  on  the  following  evening 
(Sunday,  June  1 3th),  when  the  church  was  duly  organized, 
and  the  opening  sermon  delivered  by  the  Rev.  R.  S. 
Storrs,  Jr.  Several  names  for  the  new  society  had  been 
suggested — The  Cranberry  Street  Church,  the  Wyckliffe 
Church,  and  the  Plymouth  Church. 

A  religious  society,  in  conformity  with  New  York  State 
Laws,  was  formed  on  Monday  evening,  June  14,  1847, 
with  a  membership  of  twenty-one ;  Henry  C.  Bowen, 
John  T.  Howard,  and  Daniel  Burgess  were  elected 
Trustees,  to  serve,  each  in  the  order  written,  for  the 
term  of  one,  two,  and  three  years ;  and  the  corporate 
name  of 

THE   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH 

was  adopted  by  the  society.  The  Certificate  of  Incor- 
poration was  recorded  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  King's 
County,  September  27,  1847. 

The  names  of  the  original  members  were  : 

1.  Howard,  John  T.  3.  Bowen,  Lucy  Maria. 

2.  Bowen,  Henry  C.  4.  Payne,  Jira. 


128      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF    HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

5.  Payne,  Eliza.  13.  Rowland,  Charles. 

6.  Knight,  Rachel.  14.  Rowland,  Maria. 

7.  Hale,  Richard.  15.  Webb,  John. 

8.  Hale.  Julia.  16.  Webb,  Martha. 

9.  Turner,  Alpheus  R.  17.  Blake,  Eli  C. 

10.  Turner,  Louisa.  18.  Morse,  John  F. 

11.  Burgess,  Benjamin.          19.  Morse,  Rebecca. 

12.  Burgess,  Mary.  20.  Cannon,  Mary. 

21.  Griffin,  David. 

On  the  evening  of  the  formal  organization  of  the  so- 
ciety a  unanimous  vote  had  been  cast  electing  Rev. 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  to  the  vacant  pastorate,  and  a 
committee  had  been  appointed  to  present  him  with  the 
invitation  to  that  office.  After  two  months'  deliberation 
— during  which  time  the  pulpit  had  been  occupied  by 
various  ministers,  generally  from  New  England — Mr. 
Beecher,  partly  influenced  by  the  entreaties  of  William 
T.  Cutler,  and  partly  by  the  continued  ill-health  of  his 
family  while  resident  in  the  West,  almost  reluctantly — 
for,  as  he  had  said,  "  his  heart  was  with  the  West  " — ac- 
cepted the  call  by  letter. 

"INDIANAPOLIS,  August  19,  1847. 
"  DEAR  BROTHERS  :  I  desire  to  convey  through  you 
to  the  Plymouth  Church  and  congregation  my  accept- 
ance of  the  call  to  the  pastoral  office  tendered  by  them 
to  me. 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH. 


"  I  cannot  regard  the  responsibilities  of  this  important 
field  without  the  most  serious  diffidence,  and  I  wholly 
put  my  trust  in  that  Saviour  whom  I  am  to  preach  in 
your  midst.  I  can  heartily  adopt  the  language  of  Paul, 
'  Brethren,  pray  for  us,  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  may 
have  free  course  and  be  glorified.' 

"  It  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  remain  yet  for  some 
time  in  this  place  ;  but  I  hope  to  arrive  in  Brooklyn  in 
the  middle  of  October,  or  at  the  furthest,  by  the  first  of 

November. 

"  I  am,  in  Christian  love, 

"  Most  Truly  Yours, 

"  H.  W.  BEECHER. 

"  To  JOHN  T.  HOWARD,  HENRY  C.  BOWEN,  CHARLES 
ROWLAND,  and  others." 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  entered  upon  pastoral  duties  in 
Plymouth  Church  on  Sunday  morning,  October  10, 
1847. 

Mr.  Thompson  records  that  "the  evening  services 
were  fully  attended,  and  to  the  astonishment  of  all,  and 
dissatisfaction  of  some,  he  laid  aside  the  doctrinal  the- 
ologies of  the  morning  in  favor  of  the  living  issues  of 
the  times,  and  boldly  and  clearly  defined  the  position  he 
had  taken  and  intended  to  hold  in  reference  to  slavery, 
temperance,  war,  and  general  reform." 

Alluding  to   his  first   sermon   in   Plymouth  Church, 


I3O      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

after  accepting  the  call,  Mr.  Beecher,  who,  as  previously 
stated,  had  delivered  several  anti-slavery  sermons  in  In- 
dianapolis, observed  to  a  friend  : 

"  In  the  first  sermon  that  I  preached  on  the  Sun- 
day night  in  the  new  church,  when  I  had  accepted  the 
call  and  came  there  in  the  fall,  I  made  a  proclamation  of 
my  sentiments  on  the  slavery  matter,  on  temperance 
matters,  on  war  and  peace,  on  all  those  great  themes  in 
which  I  have  had  zeal  in  all  my  public  life,  in  the  most 
explicit  manner.  I  declared  to  them  that  if  they  con- 
tinued to  attend,  or  any  of  them  wished  to  attend,  my 
church  on  the  supposition  that  I  was  going  to  be  silent, 
or  prudentially  dumb,  I  wished  to  remove  that  impres- 
sion at  once,  for  I  intended  to  be  positive,  active,  and  en- 
ergetic on  all  those  subjects.  In  1847-48-49  I  had  become 
well  known.  My  anti-slavery  sentiments  began  to  be 
well  known  in  New  York.  Upon  the  establishment  of 
The  Independent  I  was  invited  by  Mr.  Bowen  to  furnish 
'  Star  Papers '  for  the  paper,  and  in  those  I  avowed  such 
anti-slavery  sentiments  as  made  it  a  little  uncertain 
whether  the  three  adjunct  editors  of  the  paper — Dr. 
Leonard  Bacon,  Dr.  Richard  S.  Storrs,  and  Dr.  Joseph 
Thompson,  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle — could  sustain 
me.  It  was  a  time  of  very  great  caution  and  prudence, 
but  I  stuck  right  at  it." 

He  continued  : 

"  In  1850,  when  the  controversy  came  up  about  Clay's 


HE  BECOMES   PASTOR   OF  PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.      131 

Omnibus  Bill,  including  the  Fugitive  Slave  Laws,  I  was 
thoroughly  roused,  and  in  the  pulpit  and  with  my  pen  I 
attacked  with  the  utmost  earnestness  the  infamous  Fugi- 
tive Slave  Bill.  It  was  then  that  I  wrote  that  article, 
*  Shall  we  Compromise  ? '  If  anyone  will  compare  that 
article  with  Mr.  Seward's  subsequent  speech  he  will  find 
that  it  was  reducing  to  a  mere  minimum  the  article  on 
'  Shall  we  Compromise  ? '  This  article  was  read  to  John 
C.  Calhoun  on  his  sick-bed  by  his  clerk,  and  he  raised 
himself  up  and  said  :  '  Read  that  article  again.'  The 
article  was  read.  '  The  man  who  says  that  is  right. 
Slavery  has  got  to  go  to  the  wall.  There  is  no  alterna- 
tive. It  is  liberty  or  slavery.'  And  then,  when  Webster 
made  his  fatal  apostasy  on  March  7,  1850,  I  joined  with 
all  Northern  men  of  any  freedom-loving  spirit  in  de- 
nouncing it  and  in  denouncing  him.  Forthwith,  after  a 
paralysis  of  a  few  weeks,  his  friends  determined  to  save 
him  by  getting  all  the  old  clergymen — such  men  as  Dr. 
Spring,  Dr.  Lord,  of  Dartmouth,  and  the  Andover  Pro- 
fessors. The  effort  was  to  get  every  great  and  influen- 
tial man  in  the  North  to  stand  up  for  Webster,  and  then 
it  was  that  I  flamed.  They  failed  utterly.  Professor 
Woolsey,  of  New  Haven,  Dr.  Bacon,  President  of  the 
Williamstown  College  in  Massachusetts,  and  various 
other  most  influential  men  absolutely  refused  to  sustain 
Webster." 

Public   installation    services    occurred    on   Thursday 


132      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

evening,  November  n,  1847,  which  were  conducted  as 
follows  : 

"  Invocation  and  Reading  of  the  Scriptures,"  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Heman  Humphrey,  of  Pittsfield,  Mass. 

"  Sermon,"  by  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Beecher,  of  Boston, 
Mass. 

"  Installing  Prayer,"  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Hewit, 
of  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

"  Charge  to  the  Pastor,"  by  Rev.  D.  C.  Lansing,  of 
New  York. 

"  The  Fellowship  of  the  Churches,"  by  Rev.  Richard 
S.  Storrs,  Jr.,  of  Brooklyn. 

"  Address  to  the  People,"  by  Rev.  Joseph  P.  Thomp- 
son, of  New  York. 

"  Concluding  Prayer,"  by  Rev.  Dr.  Horace  Bushnell, 
of  Hartford,  Conn. 

"Thus  was  Plymouth  Church  founded,"  says  Mr. 
Thompson,  "  and  thus  began  a  ministry  which,  by  ear- 
nest and  continued  inculcation  of  sound  common-sense 
doctrine,  promulgation  of  tolerant  principles,  and  advance- 
ment of  liberal  views,  was  eventually  destined  to  partially 
liberalize  the  tenets  of  the  entire  Christian  world." 

On  the  first  day  of  June,  1848,  the  success  of  the  new 
enterprise  being  insured,  and  its  organization  being  com- 
plete, the  property  was  duly  conveyed  by  the  owners  to 
the  society  of  Plymouth  Church  for  its  actual  cost,  with 
accrued  interest  to  date. 


HE  BECOMES   PASTOR  OF  PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       133 

In  the  fall  of  this  year,  Mr.  Beecher  scored  "  one  of 
his  most  memorable  evenings  "  (to  quote  his  own  words). 
It  was  at  a  meeting  at  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  in  New 
York  City,  convened  for  the  purpose  of  raising  by  sub- 
scription $2,000  for  the  redemption  of  two  slave-girls, 
the  Edmondston  sisters.  After  several  addresses  only 
$600  was  raised,  and  Mr.  Beecher  again  took  the  plat- 
form, and  by  his  inspiring  eloquence  and  personal  appeals 
to  his  friends  in  the  vast  assemblage,  he  succeeded  in 
eliciting  subscriptions  in  sums  varying  from  $25  to  $100, 
until  the  desired  amount  had  been  obtained. 

Alluding  to  the  Edmondston  case,  Mr.  Beecher  ob- 
served to  a  friend : 

"  Going  home  one  day,  I  saw  an  old  negro  sitting  on 
my  outside  stone  steps.  I  asked  him  what  he  wanted. 
He  said  he  wanted  to  see  Mr.  Beecher.  I  asked  him 
into  the  house,  and  then  he  told  me  that  his  two  daugh- 
ters had  been  sold  to  the  slave-pen  to  be  carried  to  New 
Orleans.  They  were  very  beautiful  girls,  and  their  destiny 
was  very  apparent.  He  had  gone  all  around  among  the 
Methodists,  I  think,  to  whom  he  belonged,  and  he  got 
sympathy,  but  no  succor ;  so  he  called  to  see  if  I  could 
not  do  something  for  him.  A  meeting  was  called  in  the 
Broadway  Tabernacle.  I  agreed  to  be  there  and  make  a 
speech.  I  think  that  of  all  the  meetings  that  I  have  at- 
tended in  my  life,  for  a  panic  of  sympathy,  I  never  saw 

one  that  surpassed  that.    I  have  seen  a  great  many  in  my 
6* 


134      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

day.  An  amount  of  money  was  subscribed,  and  they 
were  bought  and  set  free.  The  mother  was  a  very  old 
woman.  She  had  been  the  nurse  of  a  great  Richmond 
lawyer  whose  name  has  died  out  of  my  memory.  He 
owed  his  conversion  to  her.  He  was  famous  in  the  days 
of  Webster." 

Mr.  Beecher's  ministrations  proved  as  attractive  as  ex- 
pected, and  Plymouth  Church  rapidly  increased  its  mem- 
bership and  following,  slowly  at  first,  it  is  true,  but  surely. 
A  blessing  in  disguise  was  the  destruction  by  fire  of  the 
original  church  buildings  in  January,  1849,  as  it  enabled 
the  society  to  rebuild  on  a  larger  scale,  and  with  a  front 
on  Orange  Street  instead  of  Cranberry  Street.  Mr. 
Thompson  states,  in  his  interesting  little  volume,  "  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  devise  the  necessary  plans,  and 
Mr.  Sherman  Day,  chairman  of  the  committee,  drew  up 
a  rough  design  which  received  the  approbation  of  the 
pastor.  The  projected  building  was  to  be  105  feet  in 
length,  80  feet  in  width,  and  43  feet  in  height  (floor  to 
ceiling) ;  with  a  rear  addition,  two  stories  in  height  and 
50  feet  by  80  feet ;  the  entire  structure  to  be  divided 
into  eleven  rooms,  namely :  an  auditorium  with  seats  for 
2,050  persons  (exclusive  of  aisle  or  wall  chairs),  76  feet 
by  92  feet ;  a  lecture-room  48  feet  by  5 1  feet ;  a  Sab- 
bath-school room  24  feet  by  64  feet ;  four  rooms  for 
Bible  and  infant  classes,  each  10  feet  by  16  feet ;  two 
social  circle  parlors,  each  24  feet  by  32  feet ;  a  recep- 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       135 

tion  parlor  and  a  pastor's  study,  each  14  feet  by  32 
feet. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Wells,  an  English  church  architect,  reduced 
Mr.  Day's  plan  to  exact  proportions,  the  society  adopted 
it,  and  May  29,  1849,  was  the  day  appointed  for  laying 
the  corner-stone. 

In  description  of  this  interesting  ceremony,  quotations 
from  the  Brooklyn  Daily  Advertiser  of  May  30,  1849, 
are  cited : 

"  The  day  was  dark,  gloomy,  wet — anything  but  pro- 
pitious— causing  a  serious  disappointment  to  many  who 
had  anticipated  uniting  in  the  exercises  of  the  occasion. 
Notwithstanding  that  the  rain  came  down  in  copious  quan- 
tities, there  were  several  hundred  persons  assembled,  and 
the  services  were  performed  in  a  highly  interesting  and 
devout  manner.  The  services  were  commenced  with  the 
reading  of  a  hymn  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Sprague,  and  singing 
by  the  choir  of  the  church  and  the  congregation  assem- 
bled. Rev.  Dr.  Cheever  followed  by  reading  a  very 
beautiful  and  appropriate  selection  from  the  Scriptures. 
Prayer,  by  Rev.  J.  P.  Thompson,  of  Broadway  Taber- 
nacle. A  very  eloquent,  brief,  and  impressive  address 
was  made  by  Rev.  Mr.  Storrs,  of  Pilgrim  Church.  His 
allusion  to  the  origin  of  the  church,  the  struggles  of  the 
Pilgrim  fathers,  the  doctrines  and  principles  which  they 
inculcated,  the  sacredness  and  nobleness  of  the  object 
which  had  called  them  together,  the  influence  which  this 


136      LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

church  must  exert  in  all  departments  of  life,  the  great 
civil  and  religious  blessings  we  enjoy,  both  as  individuals 
and  as  a  nation,  were  themes  which  the  reverend  gentle- 
man blended  into  a  highly  religious,  dignified,  and  inter- 
esting address. 

"  The  Rev.  J.  L.  Hodge  enumerated  a  list  of  the  vari- 
ous religious  and  secular  papers  enclosed  in  the  box  in- 
tended to  be  placed  beneath  the  initial  pillar  of  the  foun- 
dation. 

"  The  Rev.  Dr.  Lansing  then  stated  that  he  had  been 
intrusted  by  the  committee  to  lay  the  corner-stone  of  the 
church.  The  reverend  doctor  remarked  that  everyone 
knew  the  excitability  of  his  temperament,  and  how  gen- 
erally he  was  disposed  to  enlarge  and  amplify  on  occa- 
sions like  the  present.  He  said  he  had  therefore  reduced 
his  address  to  writing.  He  then  read  the  address,  which 
was  listened  to  with  great  attention. 

"  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson  followed  with  a  few  remarks, 
alluding  to  the  much-regretted  absence  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Cox,  now  in  Boston,  who  was  expected  to  have  been 
present  on  the  occasion. 

"  The  services  were  concluded  with  singing  the  doxol- 
ogy,  '  Praise  God,'  etc.,  by  the  audience,  in  the  tune  of 
Old  Hundred  ;  and  a  benediction  by  Rev.  Mr.  Sprague." 

The  builders  of  the  church  were  Solomon  Conklin, 
mason  ;  Tappan  Reeve,  carpenter  ;  J.  C.  Wells,  architect. 
The  sum  of  $31,489  was  subscribed  in  amounts  varying 


HE  BECOMES  PASTOR   OF  PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       137 

from  $2  to  $2,500  (total  number  of  subscribers,  324)  tow- 
ard the  cost  of  the  new  edifice,  and  $31,127  was  collected 
upon  seven  per  cent,  scrip,  bearing  interest  payable  in  pew- 
rents,  only,  the  principal  payable  from  the  surplus  reve- 
nue of  the  church.  The  lecture-room  and  Sabbath-school 
room  were  provided  for  by  donations  to  the  amount  of 
$10,800,  and  were  furnished  partly  by  the  proceeds 
realized  by  Sunday-school  festivals  and  partly  by  the 
pew-rent  income  of  the  Society.  Their  cost  was  about 
$13,000,  and  that  of  the  church  about  $36,000. 

While  the  buildings  were  in  course  of  erection,  the 
Society  were  cordially  invited  by  many  of  the  neighbor- 
ing Societies  to  use  their  respective  edifices  for  worship, 
and  for  about  two  months  these  invitations  were  thank- 
fully accepted.  Their  evening  services  were  regularly 
held  in  the  Church  of  the  Pilgrims.  In  March,  1849, 
Mr.  Beecher  experienced  a  serious  attack  of  illness, 
which  confined  him  to  his  house  for  two  months,  and 
incapacitated  him  from  preaching  until  the  ensuing  Sep- 
tember. 

In  the  meantime  a  Tabernacle,  100  feet  in  length  and 
80  feet  in  width,  had  been  erected  at  an  expense  of 
$2,800,  on  land  (munificently  tendered  free  of  rent  by 
Lewis  Tappan)  on  Pierrepont  Street,  and  the  churchless 
congregation  occupied  this  temporary  building  until  the 
first  Sabbath  in  January,  1850,  when  they  removed  to 
their  completed  church  on  Orange  Street.  The  Taber- 


138      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF    HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

nacle  was  sold  to  Mr.  A.  G.  Benson  for  $1,30x3,  which 
amount,  together  with  Sabbath  collections  and  pew- 
rents,  fully  covered  its  cost  and  all  attendant  expenses. 
On  completion  of  the  church  buildings,  the  entire  prop- 
erty was  mortgaged  for  $16,000,  partly  to  pay  off  the 
original  mortgage  ($10,500),  and  partly  to  liquidate  the 
floating  debt. 

The  opening  services  occurred  on  the  first  Sunday  in 
January,  1850. 

The  system  of  renting  pews  annually  to  the  highest 
bidder  was  then  adopted,  and  thus  all  members  and  reg- 
ular attendants  were  enabled  to  secure  seats  according  to 
their  respective  means.  The  pastor's  salary  was,  by 
common  consent,  increased  to  $3,500  per  annum.  He 
had  originally  been  engaged  on  a  salary  of  $1,500  (an 
increase  of  $700  over  his  stipend  when  in  Indianapolis) 
for  the  first  year,  $1,750  for  the  second  year,  and  $2,000 
for  the  third  year  and  succeeding  years  ;  and  David  Hale 
and  Henry  C.  Bowen  had  voluntarily  guaranteed  per- 
sonally the  payment  of  his  salary  for  the  first  three 
years.  In  two  years  and  six  months  the  Congregational 
Church,  with  only  twenty-one  original  members,  which 
many  had  prophesied  would  come  to  naught,  had  in- 
creased— notwithstanding  its  trial  by  fire,  its  subsequent 
migratory  life,  and  the  long-continued  ill-health  of  its 
pastor — to  a  membership  of  three  hundred  and  forty- 
three,  sixteen  of  which  number,  however,  had  been  lost 


HE   BECOMES   PASTOR   OF   PLYMOUTH   CHURCH.       139 

by  death  and  removals,  thereby  leaving  a  real  existing 
membership  of  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven. 

Mr.  Beecher  was  still  suffering  from  the  effects  of  his 
late  illness,  and  a  leave  of  absence  from  June  to  Septem- 
ber (1850)  was  cheerfully  granted  to  enable  him  to  rest 
from  his  labors,  visit  Europe,  and,  if  possible,  recuperate 
his  delicate  health. 

At  the  time  of  Mr.  Beecher's  death,  Plymouth  Church 
had  very  nearly  two  thousand  five  hundred  members, 
more  than  one  hundred  times  the  number  that  formed 
the  original  society. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IN  THE   ANTI-SLAVERY  CRUSADE. 

Back  from  His  Health  Trip  to  Europe. — Plymouth  Church  and  Beecher 
become  Synonymous. — The  Leading  Abolitionist. — Webster's  Atti- 
tude in  Regard  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill. — Mr.  Beecher's  Excoria- 
tion.— Black  List  of  the  Union  Safety  Committee. — He  Personally 
beseeches  Merchants  to  stand  Firm  by  Their  Principles. — How  he 
helped  Mr.  Bowen. — His  Declaration  cf  Principles. — The  Fremont 
Campaign. — Wendell  Phillips  sheltered  by  Plymouth  Church. — The 
Kansas  Excitement. — Hostile  Declarations  from  a  Mob. — John 
Brown's  Insurrection. — Beecher's  Address. — John  Brown's  Chains 
rattled  in  the  Tabernacle. — Few  Reporters  able  to  follow  Beecher. — 
"Cross  Fulton  Ferry  and  follow  the  Crowd." — Rose  Ward. — Rose 
Terry's  Contribution. — Sarah  is  Redeemed. — Continuing  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Crusade. 

MR.  BEECHER  returned  from  his  brief  trip  to  Europe 
much  improved  in  health,  and  entered  upon  his  ministra- 
tions in  the  new  edifice  on  its  completion,  and  thence- 
forth his  name  and  that  of  the  edifice  became  household 
and  synonymous  terms. 

Mr.  Beecher  led  all  the  Abolitionists  in  his  opposition 
to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  he  became  one  of  the 
most  prominent  of  the  directors  of  the  Underground 
Railroad  Company.  His  congregation  were  nearly  all 
stockholders  of  the  line,  and  the  church  has  been  called 


IN   THE   ANTI-SLAVERY   CRUSADE.  141 

its  Grand  Central  Depot.  The  deviation  from  the  estab- 
lished rules  of  Gospel  preaching,  and  the  opening  of  the 
pulpit  to  political  discussions,  caused  much  excited  de- 
nunciation in  orthodox  circles.  The  pluck  of  the  Ply- 
mouth pastor  in  those  times  of  excitement  was  unques- 
tioned. After  Daniel  Webster  had  delivered  his  famous 
speech  in  favor  of  Mason's  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  and  signi- 
fied his  intention  to  vote  for  it,  Mr.  Beecher,  in  his  pul- 
pit in  Plymouth  Church,  declared  that  the  "  Law  of  God 
was  higher  than  all  other  laws,  Government  or  State, 
constitutional  or  unconstitutional,  and  must  first  be 
obeyed."  He  said  from  his  pulpit : 

"  The  worst  spectacle  which  this  country  now  presents 
is  not,  I  think,  the  governmental  or  political  corruptions, 
though  these  are  enormous ;  but  it  is  that  of  a  religious 
body,  like  the  one  in  New  York,  utterly  refusing  to  open 
its  mouth  against  the  blackest  iniquity  of  the  age. 

"  And  for  what,  in  the  name  of  Heaven  ?  What  reason 
do  they  give  for  this  strange  silence  ?  Why,  because,  if 
it  does  speak  against  sin,  it  will  not  be  allowed  to  preach 
the  Gospel.  If  every  sin  were  as  powerful  as  is  this  sin 
of  slavery,  what  would  these  preachers  of  the  Gospel  do  ? 
Keep  silence  in  regard  to  them  all,  of  course ;  for,  accord- 
ing to  their  views,  only  the  smaller  and  least  powerful 
sins  can  be  safely  hit.  That  ponderous  body  can  bom- 
bard men  bravely  for  using  tobacco,  but  it  can't  say  one 
word  against  selling  men  and  women  to  raise  it.  It  can 


142      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

spend  itself  and  exert  its  tremendous  machinery  against 
the  awful  sin  of  the  dancing  of  young  men  and  maidens, 
but  can't  utter  a  word  when  maidens  are  sold  to  prosti- 
tution, and  young  men  are  driven  off,  in  chain-gangs,  to 
the  rice  swamps  of  Georgia. 

"  The  use  I  make  of  such  men,  is  to  point  the  young 
men  to  them  and  say :  *  These  are  men  whom  you 
must  shun  to  resemble.'  The  worst  stamp  of  Pharisee- 
ism  was  not  in  our  Saviour's  day.  It  has,  after  years  of 
monstrous  growth,  exhibited  itself  in  the  nineteenth 
century. 

"  Our  citizens  have  been  lynched  for  the  suspicion  of 
holding  free  sentiments  ;  letters  and  papers  have  been  re- 
fused a  channel  in  the  national  mail ;  it  has  been  freely 
said,  and  it  was  no  vain  threat,  that  a  lamp-post  or  tree 
should  be  that  man's  rostrum  who  dared  to  own  abolition- 
ism in  Southern  territory  ;  free  colored  citizens  have  been 
kidnapped,  carried  into  hopeless  slavery  from  our  midst ; 
our  ships  and  boats  could  not  carry  colored  cooks,  stew- 
ards, or  sailors,  without  having  their  service  withheld 
from  them;  our  whole  free  colored  population  are  denied 
the  right  of  travel  and  residence  in  slave  States,  which 
the  Constitution  guarantees  to  all  citizens ;  they  are  ar- 
rested if  found,  and  sold,  if  proved  free,  to  pay  jail  fees. 

"  Man  cannot  plant  parchments  as  deep  as  God  plants 
principles.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  is  august ; 


IN   THE  ANTI-SLAVERY   CRUSADE.  143 

and  such  men  as  lead  her  counsels  are  men  of  might. 
But  no  man,  and  no  senate  of  men,  when  once  the  eyes 
of  a  community  are  open  to  a  question  of  humanity,  can 
reason  or  enact  them  back  again  to  a  state  of  indifference, 
and  still  less  can  they  enlist  them  along  with  the  remorse- 
less hunters  of  human  flesh. 

"  We  solemnly  appeal  to  Christians  of  every  name,  to 
all  sober  and  humane  men,  unwrenched  by  party  feelings, 
to  all  that  love  man,  to  behold  and  ponder  this  iniquity 
which  is  done  among  us  !  Shall  an  army  of  wretched 
victims,  without  a  crime,  unconvicted  of  wrong,  pursuing 
honest  occupations,  be  sent  back  to  a  loathed  and  detest- 
able slavery  ?  Here  is  no  abstract  question.  We  ask 
you,  shall  men  now  free,  shall  members  of  the  church, 
shall  children  from  the  school,  shall  even  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  be  seized,  ironed,  and  in  two  hours  be  on  the 
road  to  a  servitude  to  them  worse  than  death  ? 

"  For  our  own  selves,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  what 
every  man  who  has  a  spark  of  manhood  in  him  will  say 
with  us,  that  no  force  should  bring  us  into  such  horrible 
bondage.  Before  we  would  yield  ourselves  to  go  away 
to  linger  and  long  for  death  through  burning  years  of  in- 
justice, we  would  die  a  thousand  deaths.  Every  house 
should  be  our  fortress ;  and  when  fortress  and  refuge 
failed  us,  then  our  pursuers  should  release  our  souls  to 
the  hands  of  God  who  gave  them,  before  they  should 


144     LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

degrade  them  by  a  living  slavery !   Who  shall  deny  these 
feelings  and  such  refuge  to  a  black  man  ? 

"With  such  solemn  convictions,  no  law,  impious,  infi- 
del to  God  and  humanity,  shall  have  respect  or  observ- 
ance at  our  hands.  We  desire  no  collision  with  it.  We 
shall  not  rashly  dash  upon  it.  We  shall  not  attempt  a 
rescue,  nor  interrupt  officers,  if  they  do  not  interrupt  us. 
We  prefer  to  labor  peaceably  for  its  early  repeal,  mean- 
while saving  from  its  merciless  jaws  as  many  victims  as 
we  can.  But  in  those  provisions  which  respect,  aid  to 
fugitives,  may  God  do  so  to  us,  yea,  and  more  also,  if  we 
do  not  spurn  it  as  we  would  any  other  mandate  of  Satan. 

"  I  will  both  shelter  them,  conceal  them,  or  speed  their 
flight ;  and  while  under  my  shelter,  or  under  my  convoy, 
they  shall  be  to  me  as  my  own  flesh  and  blood  ;  and 
whatever  defence  I  would  put  forth  for  my  own  children, 
that  shall  these  poor,  despised,  and  persecuted  creatures 
have_in  my  house  or  upon  the  road.  The  man  who  shall 
betray  a  fellow-creature  to  bondage,  who  shall  obey  this 
law  to  the  peril  of  his  soul,  and  to  the  loss  of  his  manhood, 
were  he  brother,  son,  or  father,  shall  never  pollute  my 
hand  with  the  grasp  of  hideous  friendship  ;  or  cast  his 
swarthy  shadow  across  my  threshold  !  For  such  service 
to  those  whose  helplessness  and  poverty  make  them  pe- 
culiarly God's  children,  I  shall  cheerfully  take  the  pains 
and  penalties  of  this  bill.  Bonds  and  fines  shall  be  hon- 


IN  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY   CRUSADE.  145 

ors ;  imprisonment  and  suffering  will  be  passports  to  fame 
not  long  to  linger !  " 

It  was  about  the  time  Mr.  Beecher  first  began  to  de- 
liver set  lectures  out  of  town  for  $50  and  his  expenses 
that  Charles  Sumner  was  struck  down  in  the  Senate 
Chamber  by  Brooks,  of  South  Carolina.  The  entire 
North  was  fired  with  indignation,  and  the  solid  mer- 
chants of  New  York  thought  that  was  going  too  far.  A 
mass  meeting  of  protest  was  called  in  the  Tabernacle,  and 
in  order  to  make  it  significant  no  one  was  invited  to  speak 
who  had  ever  countenanced  the  anti-slavery  movement. 
It  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  conservatives.  The  chief 
speakers,  resolution-readers,  and  fuglemen  were  Daniel  D. 
Lord,  John  Van  Buren,  and  William  M.  Evarts.  The 
Tabernacle,  which  was  so  frequently  in  those  days  his 
rostrum,  was  packed  with  an  earnest,  enthusiastic  audi- 
ence, which,  in  point  of  numbers  and  respectability,  cult- 
ure and  influence,  has  rarely  been  surpassed.  For  some 
reason  Mr.  Beecher,  who  had  been  advertised  to  lecture 
in  Philadelphia  that  evening,  was  in  the  city.  He  had 
dined  with  his  friend  Mr.  John  T.  Howard,  and  together 
they  went  to  the  Tabernacle  to  hear  the  speaking.  As 
the  meeting  was  about  to  be  closed  someone  in  the  audi- 
ence called  out  "  Beecher."  The  people  took  up  the  cry, 
and  "  Beecher,  Beecher  !  "  resounded  through  the  church. 
Mr.  Evarts,  evidently  annoyed,  advanced  to  the  front  of 
the  platform  and  said :  "  The  programme  of  the  even- 


146      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ing  is  concluded,  and  the  meeting  will  adjourn.  [A  voice 
— "  Beecher  !  "]  Mr.  Beecher,  I  am  told,  is  lecturing  in 
Philadelphia  this  evening."  "  No,  he  isn't,"  called  out  one 
of  the  reporters ;  "  there  he  is  behind  the  pillar."  The 
greater  part  of  the  audience  had  risen  and  prepared  to 
leave.  Beecher  was  recognized  and  half  led,  half  forced, 
to  the  platform,  from  which  Mr.  Evarts  and  his  friends 
precipitately  retired.  John  Van  Buren,  with  the  instinct 
of  a  gentleman,  advanced,  took  Mr.  Beecher  by  the  hand, 
and  led  him  to  the  speaker's  place.  The  audience  re- 
seated themselves,  but  for  fully  five  minutes  the  house 
was  in  an  uproar  of  enthusiastic  greeting.  With  a  wave 
of  his  hand  Mr.  Beecher  secured  silence  and  attention. 
For  an  hour  he  delivered  the  speech  of  his  life.  Every 
eye  glistened.  Such  applause  was  never  given  before. 
The  occasion  was  an  inspiration.  The  opportunity  was 
one  he  had  never  had  before.  But  it  is  doubtful  that  he 
thought  of  either  one  or  the  other.  He  had  the  scene  in 
the  Senate  Chamber  in  his  eye.  It  was  the  culminating 
outrage  in  a  series  of  horrors.  He  felt  it.  He  foresaw 
its  end.  He  made  that  audience  feel  what  he  felt  and  see 
what  he  saw,  and  when  he  closed  he  glowed  like  a  fur- 
nace, w'hile  the  people  cheered  with  their  throats  full  of 
tears.  Such  scenes  occur  once  in  a  lifetime.  The  next 
day's  papers  reported  Beecher  verbatim,  and  gave  the 
others  what  they  could  find  space  for. 

Mr.  Beecher  was  aroused  to  a  state  of  great  indignation 


IN  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY   CRUSADE.  147 

by  the  threat  at  a  meeting  of  the  so-called  Union  Safety 
Committee,  held  at  Castle  Garden,  in  1856,  that  the 
merchants  of  New  York  would  be  financially  ruined  by 
those  who  refused  to  sell  their  principles  with  their  wares. 
He  addressed  the  merchants  from  his  pulpit  and  urged 
them  to  maintain  their  principles  and  the  honor  of  the 
country ;  and  he  personally  called  on  the  more  promi- 
nent and  discussed  the  subject  with  them. 

Speaking  to  a  friend  of  his  course  in  regard  to  the 
"  black  list,"  Mr.  Beecher  said  : 

"  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  black  list  was  made 
in  that  Castle  Garden  Union  Safety  Committee,  and 
connected  with  that  was  a  black  list  that  was  gotten  up 
of  all  the  merchants  that  were  anti-slavery.  It  was 
to  be  sent  all  over  the  South  to  destroy  their  custom. 
Mr.  Bowen  was,  of  course,  included  in  that  black  list,  and 
threatened  with  the  loss  of  all  his  Southern  custom.  He 
came  to  me  and  asked  me  if  I  would  not  write  a  card  for 
him,  and  I  undertook  to  do  it,  but  my  head  not  running 
very  clear,  the  only  thing  I  got  at  after  making  three  or 
four  different  attempts  was,  '  My  goods  are  for  sale,  but 
not  my  principles,'  but  I  could  not  lick  it  into  shape,  and 
I  gave  the  paper  to  him  and  said,  *  You  must  fix  it  to 
suit  yourself.'  He  took  it  to  Hiram  Barney,  and  he 
drew  up  the  card  in  the  shape  in  which  it  appeared,  in- 
cluding that  sentence,  which  was  the  snap  of  the  whole 
thing." 


148      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

Mr.  Beecher  always  made  it  a  practice  now  to  discuss 
national  affairs  in  his  Sunday  evening  discourses,  and 
in  announcing  the  annual  sale  of  pews  he  was  in  the 
habit  "  of  clearly  and  unmistakably  expressing  his  views 
upon  slavery  and  other  practical  reforms  of  the  day,  for 
the  especial  purpose  of  forewarning  all  those  who  con- 
templated renting  sittings  for  the  ensuing  year  of  the 
general  tenor  of  his  preaching,  and  the  application  he 
should  make  of  it  to  the  great  issues  of  the  time,  so  that 
none  could  have  reasonable  grounds  for  complaint  or  dis- 
satisfaction with  his  course." 

He  said  on  one  of  these  occasions  : 

"  The  infidelity  of  the  last  twenty-five  years  has  been 
that  which  has  sought  to  emasculate  religion  by  separat- 
ing it  from  practical  life  and  lifting  it  so  far  above  every- 
body's daily  and  familiar  use  that  they  might  as  well  be 
without  it.  The  pretence  is,  that  religion  is  too  sacred 
to  be  rendered  useful  in  common  matters.  Over  church 
doors  men  write  :  '  Religion  is  religion  ; '  and  over  store 
doors  :  '  Business  is  business.'  And  the  Church  says  to 
business  :  '  Don't  you  come  in  here  ; '  and  the  store  says 
to  religion  :  '  Don't  you  come  in  here  ! ' 

"  Man  rejects  the  interference  of  the  higher  law*  in  his 
business  as  impertinence.  But  when  Sunday  comes,  he 
says,  •  We've  had  enough  of  business  all  the  week ;  now 
let  us  have  the  blessed  Gospel.' 

"  And  the  minister  confines  himself  to  '  Christ  and  Him 


IN   THE   ANTI-SLAVERY    CRUSADE.  149 

crucified.'  He  mustn't  mention  love  to  God  and  man 
shown  in  business  transactions,  for  he  must  preach  the 
Gospel;  he  mustn't  exhort  to  temperance,  for  he  must 
preach  the  Gospel ;  he  mustn't  preach  of  justice,  purity, 
and  humanity,  for  he  must  preach  the  Gospel. 

"  Why,  if  men  catch  '  the  higher  law  '  on  'change,  or 
in  the  street,  they  hoot  at  it,  they  chase  it,  they  hit  it, 
and  drive  it  from  among  them,  crying  out  :  '  Here  is  the 
higher  law  escaped  out  of  church,  and  out  of  Sunday.' " 

Speaking  of  this  exciting  period,  Mr.  Beecher  remarked 
to  a  friend : 

"This  takes  down  to  1853.  Then  came  the  bolt  of 
the  elder  Van  Buren  and  the  Buffalo  meeting  and  plat- 
form, which  was  anti-slavery,  and  that  was  really  the 
originating  cause  of  the  Republican  Party.  The  mate- 
rials were  beginning  to  coalesce  which  constituted  the 
Republican  movement,  and  in  1856  Fremont  was  nom- 
inated as  against  Buchanan.  Well,  of  course  we  felt  all 
aflame.  My  church  voted  me  all  the  time  that  I  thought 
to  be  required  to  go  out  into  the  community  and  speak 
and  canvass  the  State  of  New  York.  I  went  into  that 
canvass,  spoke  twice  and  three  times,  sometimes,  a  week, 
having  the  whole  day  to  myself ;  that  is,  making  all  the 
speeches  that  were  made.  I  was  sent  principally  to  what 
we  called  the  Silver  Gray  districts  or  counties — the  old- 
time  Whigs  that  were  attempting  to  run  a  candidate  be- 
tween Fremont  and  Buchanan.  I  generally  made  a  three 


ISO      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

/ 

hours'  speech  a  day  in  the  open  air  to  audiences  of  from 
eight  thousand  to  ten  thousand  people.  I  felt  at  that 
time  that  it  was  very  likely  that  I  should  sacrifice  my 
life,  or  my  voice,  at  any  rate,  but  I  was  willing  to  lay 
down  either  or  both  of  them  for  that  cause." 

"  During  the  succeeding  years  of  agitation,"  says  Mr. 
Thompson,  "  Plymouth  Church  was  one  of  the  few  tem- 
ples of  free  thought,  opinion,  and  speech  in  this  land  of 
boasted  liberty.  So  bitter  was  the  hate  for  Abolitionists, 
that  at  one  time  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  a  hall  in 
New  York  or  Brooklyn  wherein  Wendell  Phillips  might 
speak.  Mr.  Beecher,  becoming  cognizant  of  the  fact, 
immediately  visited  the  trustees  of  Plymouth  Church  in 
person,  and  procured  permission  for  Mr.  Phillips  to  speak 
in  the  church — not  because  he  was  a  believer  in  all  the 
doctrine  advanced  by  the  great  agitator,  but  because  he 
was  a  believer  in  Free  Speech.  As  disturbances  were  not 
only  anticipated  but  threatened,  the  trustees,  in  accord- 
ance with  a  request  of  the  pastor,  attended  the  meeting 
armed  with  heavy  canes,  and  the  city  authorities,  in  com- 
pliance with  a  demand,  furnished  a  police  force.  Hap- 
pily, however,  there  was  no  trouble. 

"  Throughout  the  Kansas  settlement  struggle  the  right 
of  every  'Free  State'  settler  to  defend  himself  and  his 
rights,  with  arms  if  necessary,  from  the  incursions  and 
aggressions  of  the  '  Border  Ruffians,'  was  vindicated  from 
Plymouth  pulpit.  The  pastor  himself  subscribed  a  suf- 


IN   THE   ANTI  SLAVERY    CRUSADE.  !$! 

ficient  amount  for  the  purchase  of  a  Sharp's  rifle  and  a 
Bible,  and  the  congregation  expressed  its  hearty  concur- 
rence by  a  liberal  subscription  to  aid  in  supplying  all  set- 
tlers with  those  commodities. 

"  The  hate  of  the  lower  and  more  ignorant  classes  of 
New  York  City  for  Plymouth  Church  and  its  pastor  was 
intense;  and  one  Sunday  morning  (June  8th)  in  1856 
the  New  York  journals  announced  that  a  gang  of  roughs 
from  Washington  Market  intended  visiting  Brooklyn 
that  evening,  for  the  especial  purpose  of  'cleaning  out 
the  d d  Abolition  nest  at  Plymouth  Church,'  and  for- 
ever dispensing  with  the  services  of  'Beecher.'  This 
startling  intelligence  naturally  caused  considerable  excite- 
ment among  the  Plymouthites,  and  they  determined  to 
prepare  for  emergencies.  The  mayor  and  the  chief  of 
police  were  immediately  notified  of  the  threatened  raid, 
and  a  large  police  force  was  ordered  to  report,  in  citizen's 
attire,  at  the  church  that  evening.  In  addition  to  this, 
some  fifty  gentlemen,  regular  attendants,  among  whom 
were  some  of  the  trustees,  also  armed  themselves  with 
revolvers  before  going  to  evening  services.  Shortly  be- 
fore the  church  doors  were  thrown  open  that  night  crowds 
of  roughs  congregated  on  the  neighboring  corners,  but 
offered  no  remark  or  violence  to  anyone,  and  when  the 
church  was  opened  many  of  them  entered  and  quietly 
seated  themselves.  Either  there  had  been  no  intention 
to  create  any  disturbance,  or  they  had  in  some  way 


152      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

learned  of  the  reception  awaiting  them  and  wisely  con- 
cluded to  give  up  or  postpone  their  intended  demonstra- 
tion ;  for  they  soon  passed  into  the  street  again,  and, 
after  muttering  curses  upon  all  '  Abolitionists  and  nigger- 
worshippers,'  formed  in  procession  and  returned  to  New 
York.  During  the  services,  while  each  one  of  the  im- 
mense crowd  was  nervously  watching  and  waiting  for  a 
something  they  knew  not  what,  and  at  a  moment  when 
the  entire  audience  were  held  in  breathless  silence  by  the 
eloquence  of  the  pastor,  some  object  hurled  from  without 
struck  a  pane  of  glass  in  the  rear  window,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  pulpit,  and  broke  it ;  a  bullet  dropped  upon 
the  window-sill,  probably  by  some  mischievous  boy,  and 
for  a  moment  there  was  a  commotion  among  the  people 
near  the  window,  then  all  was  again  quiet.  The  services 
were  not  otherwise  disturbed,  and  no  more  invasions  were 
thereafter  threatened." 

In  1859  occurred  the  unlawful  invasion  of  a  Slave 
State  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  liberating  its  slaves,  by 
John  Brown  and  his  associates — an  attempt,  though 
really  insignificant  from  a  numerical  point  of  view,  which 
aroused  and  imbittered  the  entire  South  against  the 
North,  for  pro-slavery  men  thereupon  naturally  con- 
cluded that  Brown  was  secretly  encouraged  and  abetted 
by  the  Abolitionists  of  the  North.  The  erroneousness  of 
this  conclusion  was  clearly  demonstrated  in  a  sermon  en- 
titled "  The  Nation's  Duty  to  Slavery,"  in  which  Brown's 


IN  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY   CRUSADE.  153 

entire  career  was  reviewed,  and  from  which  some  extracts 
are  here  presented  : 

"  An  old  man,  kind  at  heart,  industrious,  peaceful, 
went  forth,  with  a  large  family  of  children,  to  seek  a  new 
home  in  Kansas.  That  infant  colony  held  thousands  of 
souls  as  noble  as  ever  liberty  inspired  or  religion  enriched. 
A  great  scowling  Slave  State,  its  nearest  neighbor,  sought 
to  tread  down  the  liberty-loving  colony,  and  to  dragoon 
slavery  into  it  by  force  of  arms.  The  armed  citizens  of 
a  hostile  State  crossed  the  State  lines,  destroyed  the 
freedom  of  the  ballot-box,  prevented  a  fair  expression  of 
public  sentiment,  corruptly  usurped  law-making  power, 
and  ordained  by  fraud  laws  as  infamous  as  the  sun  ever 
saw ;  assaulted  its  infant  settlements  with  armed  hordes, 
ravaged  the  fields,  destroyed  harvests  and  herds,  and 
carried  death  to  a  multitude  of  cabins.  The  United 
States  Government  had  no  marines  for  this  occasion ! 
No  Federal  troops  posted  by  the  cars  by  night  and  day 
for  the  poor,  the  weak,  the  grossly  wronged  men  of  Kan- 
sas. There  was  an  army  there  that  unfurled  the  ban- 
ner of  the  Union,  but  it  was  on  the  side  of  the  wrong- 
doers, not  on  the  side  of  the  injured. 

"  It  was  in  this  field  that  Brown  received  his  impulses. 
A  tender  father,  whose  life  was  in  his  son's  life,  he  saw 
his  first-born  seized  like  a  felon,  chained,  driven  across 
the  country,  crazed  by  suffering  and  heat,  beaten  like  a 
dog  by  the  officer  in  charge,  and  long  lying  at  death's 


154      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

door !  Another  noble  boy,  without  warning,  without  of- 
fence, unarmed,  in  open  day,  in  the  midst  of  the  city,  was 
shot  dead  !  No  justice  sought  out  the  murderers ;  no 
United  States  attorney  was  despatched  in  hot  haste ;  no 
marines  or  soldiers  aided  the  wronged  or  weak  ! 

"  The  shot  that  struck  the  child's  heart  crazed  the  fa- 
ther's brain.  Revolving  his  wrongs,  and  nursing  his  hatred 
to  that  deadly  system  that  breeds  such  contempt  of  justice 
and  humanity,  at  length  his  phantoms  assume  a  slender 
reality,  and  organize  such  an  enterprise  as  one  might  ex- 
pect from  a  man  whom  grief  had  bereft  of  judgment. 
He  goes  to  the  heart  of  a  Slave  State.  One  man — and 
with  sixteen  followers,  he  seizes  two  thousand  brave 
Virginians,  and  holds  them  in  duress ! 

"  When  a  great  State  attacked  a  handful  of  weak  colo- 
nists, the  Government  and  nation  were  torpid,  but  when 
seventeen  men  attack  a  sovereign  State,  then  Maryland 
arms,  and  Virginia  arms,  and  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment arms,  and  they  three  rush  against  seventeen  men. 

"  Travellers  tell  us  that  the  Geysers  of  Iceland — those 
irregular  boiling  springs  of  the  north — may  be  trans- 
ported with  fury  by  plucking  up  a  handful  of  grass  or 
turf  and  throwing  it  into  the  springs.  The  hot  springs 
of  Virginia  are  of  the  same  kind  !  A  handful  of  men 
was  thrown  into  them,  and  what  a  boiling  there  has 
been ! 

"  But,  meanwhile,  no  one  can  fail  to  see  that  this  poor, 


IN  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY   CRUSADE.  155 

child-bereft  old  man  is  the  manliest  of  them  all.  Bold, 
unflinching,  honest,  without  deceit  or  evasion,  refusing 
to  take  technical  advantages  of  any  sort,  but  openly 
avowing  his  principles  and  motives,  glorying  in  them  in 
danger  and  death,  as  much  as  when  in  security — that 
wounded  old  father  is  the  most  remarkable  figure  in 
the  whole  drama.  The  Governor,  the  officers  of  the 
State,  and  all  the  attorneys  are  pygmies  compared  with 
him. 

"  I  deplore  his  misfortunes.  I  sympathize  with  his 
sorrows.  I  mourn  the  hiding  or  obscuration  of  his  rea- 
son. I  disapprove  of  his  mad  and  feeble  schemes.  I 
shrink  from  the  folly  of  the  bloody  foray,  and  I  shrink 
likewise  from  all  anticipation  of  that  judicial  bloodshed 
which  doubtless  erelong  will  follow  ;  for  when  was  cow- 
ardice ever  magnanimous  ? 

"  If  they  kill  the  man,  it  will  not  be  so  much  for  trea- 
son as  for  the  disclosure  of  their  cowardice ! 

"  Let  no  man  pray  that  Brown  be  spared.  Let  Vir- 
ginia make  him  a  martyr.  Now,  he  has  only  blundered. 
His  soul  was  noble,  his  work  miserable.  But  a  cord  and 
a  gibbet  would  redeem  all  that,  and  round  up  Brown's 
failure  with  heroic  success. 

"  Because  it  [slavery]  is  a  great  sin,  because  it  is  a 
national  curse,  it  does  not  follow  that  we  have  a  right  to 
say  anything  or  do  anything  about  it  that  may  happen 


156      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

to  please  us.  We  certainly  have  no  right  to  attack  it  in 
any  manner  that  may  gratify  men's  fancies  or  passions. 
It  is  computed  that  there  are  four  million  colored  slaves 
in  our  nation.  These  dwell  in  fifteen  different  South- 
ern States,  with  a  population  of  ten  million  whites. 
These  sovereign  States  are  united  to  us  not  merely  by 
federal  ligaments,  but  by  vital  interests,  by  a  common 
national  life.  And  the  question  of  duty  is  not  simply 
what  is  duty  toward  the  blacks,  not  what  is  duty  toward 
the  whites,  but  what  is  duty  to  each  and  to  both  united. 
I  am  bound  by  the  great  law  of  love  to  consider  my 
duties  toward  the  slave,  and  I  am  bound  by  the  great 
law  of  love  also  to  consider  my  duties  toward  the  white 
man,  who  is  his  master !  Both  are  to  be  treated  with 
Christian  wisdom  and  forbearance.  .  .  .  We  must 
keep  in  mind  the  interest  of  every  part.  ...  It  is 
harder  to  define  what  would  be  just  in  certain  emergen- 
cies than  to  establish  the  duty,  claims,  and  authority  of 
justice.  .  .  .  We  have  no  right  to  treat  the  citizens 
of  the  South  with  acrimony  or  bitterness,  because  they 
are  involved  in  a  system  of  wrong-doing.  Wrong  is  to 
be  exposed.  But  the  spirit  of  rebuke  may  be  as  wicked 
before  God  as  the  spirit  of  the  evil  rebuked.  ...  If 
we  hope  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  slave,  the 
first  step  must  not  be  taken  by  setting  the  master  against 
him.  .  .  . 

"  The  breeding  of  discontent  among  the  bondmen  of 


IN   THE   ANTI-SLAVERY    CRUSADE.  I  $7 

our  land  is  not  the  way  to  help  them.  Whatever  gloomy 
thoughts  the  slave's  own  mind  may  brood,  we  are  not  to 
carry  disquiet  to  him  from  without.  .  .  .  The  evil 
is  not  partial.  It  cannot  be  cured  by  partial  remedies. 
Our  plans  must  include  a  universal  change  in  policy, 
feeling,  purpose,  theory,  and  practice  in  the  whole  na- 
tion. .  .  . 

"  No  relief  will  be  afforded  to  the  slaves  of  the  South, 
as  a  body,  by  any  individual ;  or  by  any  organized  plan 
to  carry  them  off,  or  to  incite  them  to  abscond.  .  .  . 

"  We  have  no  right  to  carry  into  the  midst  of  slavery 
exterior  discontent.  .  .  .  It  is  short-sighted  human- 
ity, at  best,  and  poor  policy  for  both  blacks  and  whites. 

"  Still  less  would  we  tolerate  anything  like  insurrec- 
tion and  servile  war.  It  would  be  the  most  cruel,  hope- 
less, and  desperate  of  all  conceivable  follies  to  seek  eman- 
cipation by  the  sword  and  by  blood."  .  .  . 

Mr.  Beecher  created  a  great  sensation  by  an  address 
he  delivered  at  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  in  New  York 
City.  The  chains  that  had  bound  John  Brown  in  his 
captivity  were  placed  on  the  desk  before  him,  and  in- 
spired him  to  one  of  his  most  eloquent  and  thrilling  ap- 
peals in  behalf  of  human  liberty.  In  the  frenzy  of  his 
eloquence  he  seized  the  clanking  irons  and  hurled  them 
to  the  floor,  and  stamped  upon  them,  and  awakened  a 
sentiment  in  his  vast  audience  that  filled  the  place  in 
7* 


158      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD    BEECHER. 

every  part,  that  was  lasting,  and  which  took  flight  across 
the  whole  anti-slavery  section  of  the  country. 

Fragmentary  reports  of  Mr.  Beecher's  sermons  ap- 
peared in  the  daily  papers,  but  in  his  flights  of  eloquence 
the  average  reporter  could  not  follow  him,  and  often  he 
was  misrepresented  or  garbled  to  an  exasperating  degree. 
Mr.  T.  J.  Ellinwood,  a  stenographer  who  was  found  to 
be  able  to  follow  him,  was  accommodated  with  a  desk, 
and  thenceforth  until  his  death  always  reported  him. 

The  popularity  of  the  church  was  now  so  well  estab- 
lished throughout  the  land  that  crowds  crossed  the  ferry 
from  New  York  to  attend.  The  usual  answer  given  to 
strangers  in  New  York,  inquiring  the  way  to  Beecher's 
church  on  Sunday  morning,  was  :  "  Cross  Fulton  Ferry 
and  follow  the  crowd."  Standing  room  was  always  at  a 
premium,  and  scarcely  a  Sabbath  passed  when  hundreds 
were  not  turned  away  for  want  of  even  standing  room. 

Rev.  Bishop  Faulkner  invoked  Mr.  Beecher's  aid  in 
raising  the  sum  of  $900  to  purchase  an  intelligent-look- 
ing mulatto  girl,  about  ten  years  of  age,  whom  he  brought 
from  Washington,  D.  C.,  with  him,  with  the  owner's  per- 
mission to  make  the  sale.  On  Sunday,  February  5, 
1860,  she  accompanied  Mr.  Beecher  to  church,  and  was 
placed  by  his  side  in  the  pulpit.  Mr.  Beecher  presented 
her  to  the  congregation,  stated  the  facts  of  the  case,  and 
asked  for  a  contribution  sufficient  to  effect  her  purchase. 
Among  the  audience  was  a  lady  named  Rose  Terry,  who, 


IN   THE   ANTI-SLAVERY    CRUSADE.  l6l 

when  the  contribution-box  was  passed  to  her,  drew  a 
ring  from  her  finger  and  dropped  it  in  ;  the  pastor  placed 
this  ring  upon  one  of  the  slave-girl's  fingers,  and,  telling 
her  it  was  her  freedom  ring,  named  her  Rose  Ward,  after 
the  donor  of  the  ring  and  himself.  The  amount  contrib- 
uted that  morning,  together  with  a  collection  taken  up 
in  Sunday-school  that  afternoon,  was  $1,000. 

A  similar  instance  of  the  sympathy  and  generosity  of 
the  Plymouth  congregation  occurred  on  Sunday,  June  I, 
1 86 1.  A  young  slave  woman,  twenty  years  of  age, 
named  Sarah,  having  been  informed  by  her  owner  that 
if  she  could  raise  $800  among  her  abolition  friends  he 
would  accept  of  it  and  free  her,  had  made  the  fact 
known  to  several  anti-slavery  men  in  Washington.  They 
pledged  her  owner  either  her  safe  return  or  the  required 
sum,  and  he  allowed  them  to  take  her  to  the  North.  A 
few  days  after  her  arrival  in  New  York  she  was  taken  to 
Mr.  Beecher,  and  on  the  following  Sabbath  morning  was 
escorted  to  his  pulpit  in  Brooklyn.  She  was  a  woman 
of  commanding  presence,  rounded  features,  and  winning 
face  and  long,  jet-black  hair,  and  of  course,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, attracted  most  eager  attention  and  interest 
from  the  large  and  wealthy  congregation  assembled. 
She  was  requested  to  unloosen  her  hair,  and  as  she  did 
so  it  fell  in  glistening  waves  over  her  shoulders  and  be- 
low her  waist.  Robed  in  spotless  white,  her  face  crim- 
soned and  form  heaving  under  the  excitement  of  the  oc- 


162      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

casion,  she  stood  in  that  august  presence  a  very  Venus 
in  form  and  feature.  For  a  moment  Mr.  Beecher  re- 
mained by  her  side  without  uttering  a  word,  until  the 
audience  was  wrought  up  to  a  high  pitch  of  curiosity 
and  excitement.  And  then  in  his  impressive  way  he  re- 
lated her  story  and  her  mission.  Before  he  concluded 
his  pathetic  recital  the  vast  audience  was  a  sea  of  com- 
motion. Tears  ran  down  cheeks  unused  to  the  melting 
mood,  eager  curiosity  aud  excitement  pervaded  the  whole 
congregation,  and  as  the  pastor  announced  that  he 
wanted  $2,000  for  the  girl  before  him  to  redeem  her 
promise  to  pay  for  her  freedom,  costly  jewellery  and  trin- 
kets and  notes  and  specie  piled  in  in  such  rapid  succession 
that  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  write  this  down  enough 
and  much  more  was  contributed  than  was  necessary  to 
meet  the  call  that  had  been  made. 

Since  Mr.  Beecher's  death  the  sequel  of  the  story  has 
been  ascertained.  Mrs.  Angelina  Harris  says  that  she 
has  known  the  girl  long  and  intimately. 

"  I  was  in  Plymouth  Church,"  said  Mrs.  Harris,  "  the 
night  Sarah  was  brought  upon  the  platform  and  stood 
beside  Mr.  Beecher.  The  church  was  packed  full  of  peo- 
ple. Sarah  was  then  not  more  than  twenty-two  or  twenty- 
three  years  of  age.  She  was  tall  and  finely  moulded, 
and  as  white  as  any  lady.  Yes,  before  Mr.  Beecher  had 
said  a  word  the  money  began  coming  out  of  folks'  pockets. 

"  After  she  was  free,  the  ladies  of  the  church  wrote  a 


IN  THE  ANTI-SLAVERY   CRUSADE.  163 

little  book,  in  which  a  full  account  of  her  life  was  given. 
With  the  money  that  was  obtained  from  the  sale  of  this 
they  bought  a  little  place  for  her  at  Peekskill,  where  she 
raised  fowls  and  sold  eggs  and  butter  for  a  living.  She 
is  living  there  still,  I  think,  although  I  have  not  seen  her 
for  many  years,  but  is  now  an  old  woman.  She  is  about 
fifty  years*  of  age.  Sarah  was  known  as  both  Sarah 
Scheffer  and  Sarah  Churchman.  I  have  heard  her  called 
by  both  names.  She  never  married.  She  was  never  tired 
of  talking  about  how  good  Mr.  Beecher  and  his  family 
had  been  to  her." 

Mrs.  Harris  said  that  she  had  worked  for  some  time  with 
Mrs.  Scoville,  Mr.  Beecher's  daughter,  at  Stamford,  Conn. 

When  the  booming  of  rebel  cannon  in  Charleston  Har- 
bor resounded  throughout  the  country,  proving  that  the 
threats  of  armed  disunion  had  not  been — as  was  supposed 
— those  of  mere  braggadocio,  and  that  all  predictions  of 
peaceful  settlement  of  existing  difficulties  were  but  hope- 
less dreams ;  when  many  of  the  greatest  minds  of  the 
North — almost  staggered  by  the  unexpected  blow — were 
wavering  in  opinion  whether  to  maintain  the  Union  at 
all  hazards,  or  "  let  the  wayward  sisters  go  in  peace  "- 
then  was  the  voice  of  Plymouth  Church  raised,  Sunday, 
April  14,  1861,  fearlessly  denouncing  the  actions  of  the 
secessionists,  and  urging  energetic  and  decisive  measures 
on  the  part  of  the  Administration,  crying  : 

"  We  must   not  stop  to  measure  costs — especially  the 


1 64      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

costs  of  going  forward — on  any  basis  so  mean  and 
narrow  as  that  of  pecuniary  prosperity.  .  .  .  There 
are  many  reasons  which  make  a  good  and  thorough 
battle  necessary.  The  Southern  men  are  infatuated. 
They  will  not  have  peace.  They  are  in  arms.  They 
have  fired  upon  the  American  flag.  That  glorious 
banner  has  been  borne  through  every  climate,  all 
over  the  globe,  and  for  fifty  years  not  a  land  or  people 
has  been  found  to  scorn  it  or  dishonor  it.  At  home, 
among  the  degenerate  people  of  our  own  land,  among 
Southern  citizens,  for  the  first  time,  has  this  glorious 
national  flag  been  abused,  and  trampled  to  the  ground. 
It  is  for  our  sons  reverently  to  lift  it,  and  to  bear 
it  full  high  again,  to  victory  and  national  suprem- 
acy! Our  arms,  in  this  peculiar  exigency,  can  lay  the 
foundation  of  future  union  in  mutual  respect.  The 
South  firmly  believes  that  cowardice  is  the  universal  at- 
tribute of  Northern  men !  Until  they  are  most  thor- 
oughly convinced  to  the  contrary,  they  will  never  cease 
arrogancy  and  aggression.  .  .  .  Good  soldiers,  brave 
men,  hard  fighting,  will  do  more  toward  quiet  than  all 
the  compromises  and  empty,  wagging  tongues  in  the 
world.  Our  reluctance  to  break  peace,  our  unwilling- 
ness to  shed  blood,  our  patience,  have  all  been  misin- 
terpreted. The  more  we  have  been  generous  and  for- 
bearing, the  more  thoroughly  were  they  sure  that  it  was 
because  we  dared  not  fight !  .  .  . 


IN   THE   ANTI-SLAVERY   CRUSADE.  165 

"  We  have  no  braggart  courage  ;  we  have  no  courage 
that  rushes  into  an  affray  for  the  love  of  fighting.  We  have 
that  courage  which  comes  from  calm  intelligence.  We  have 
that  courage  which  comes  from  broad  moral  sentiment. 

"  We  have  no  anger,  but  we  have  indignation.  We 
have  no  irritable  passion,  but  we  have  fixed  will.  .  .  . 

"We  must  aim  at  a  peace  built  on  foundations  so 
solid,  of  God's  immutable  truth,  that  nothing  can  reach 
to  unsettle  it.  Let  this  conflict  between  liberty  and  slav- 
ery never  come  up  again.  Better  have  it  thoroughly 
settled,  though  ft  take  a  score  of  years  to  settle  it,  than 
to  have  an  intermittent  fever  for  the  next  century,  break- 
ing out  every  five  or  ten  years.  .  . 

"  Let  not  our  feelings  be  vengeful  or  savage.  We  can 
go  into  this  conflict  with  a  spirit  just  as  truly  Christian 
as  any  that  ever  inspired  us  in  the  performance  of  a 
Christian  duty.  .  .  . 

"  Let  no  man,  then,  in  this  time  of  peril,  fail  to  asso- 
ciate himself  with  that  cause,  which  is  to  be  so  entirely 
glorious.  .  .  .  Let  every  man  that  lives  and  owns 
himself  an  American  take  the  side  of  true  American 
principles — liberty  for  one,  and  liberty  for  all ;  liberty 
now,  and  liberty  forever ;  liberty  as  the  foundation  of 
government,  and  liberty  as  the  basis  of  union  ;  liberty  as 
against  revolution,  liberty  against  anarchy,  and  liberty 
against  slavery ;  liberty  here,  and  liberty  everywhere,  the 
world  through ! "  .  .  . 


1 66      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Mr.  Beecher  never  failed  to  deliver  a  stirring  address 
or  sermon  on  the  terrible  crime  of  human  slavery  when- 
ever the  occasion  offered,  until  the  initiation  of  the  re- 
bellion by  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter  enlisted  his  sym- 
pathies in  behalf  of  the  war  for  the  Union,  when  he 
devoted  himself  as  enthusiastically  to  firing  the  Northern 
heart  and  sending  regiments  to  the  front  as  he  had  to 
the  cause  of  the  negro  slave,  whose  cause  he  never  forgot 
to  urge  in  claiming  that  the  war  was  waged  by  the  South 
for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  their  "  peculiar  and  vile 
institution." 

"  Beecher  developed  from  a  local  into  a  national  char- 
acter," says  Thomas  G.  Shearman,  "  in  the  year  1850. 
The  slavery  question  was  causing  great  excitement,  and 
Clay  had  proposed  his  compromise,  while  Calhoun,  on 
the  part  of  the  South,  was  strongly  opposing  all  compro- 
mise. So  also  was  the  Northern  anti-slavery  party,  and 
it  was  just  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Beecher  became  decid- 
edly famous.  The  Journal  of  Commerce  had  published 
an  article  threatening  that  the  clergymen  who  meddled 
with  slavery  would  have  their  coats  rolled  in  the  dirt. 
That  aroused  all  the  spirit  that  was  in  Beecher.  He 
challenged  the  editor  of  that  paper  to  a  debate  in  the 
newspapers,  which  was  carried  on  for  some  time, 
Beecher  writing  in  The  Independent,  which  was  at  that 
time  edited  by  Dr.  Storrs  and  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon.  His 
articles  were  so  felicitous  and  effective  that  they  attracted 


IN  THE  ANTI- SLAVERY   CRUSADE.  167 

universal  attention,  and  John  C.  Calhoun  had  them  read 
to  him  while  on  his  death-bed,  and  pronounced  them 
the  ablest  articles  on  the  subject  ever  written,  saying 
repeatedly,  '  That  man  understands  the  subject.  He  has 
the  true  idea.'  Of  course,  he  did  not  mean  to  approve 
Beecher's  views  on  slavery,  but  that  he  heartily  approved 
of  his  argument  that  it  was  impossible  to  compromise  the 
question.  This  occurrence  was  published  soon  afterward 
in  a  very  graphic  manner  by  Calhoun's  private  secretary, 
and  it  gave  Beecher  a  really  national  reputation,  making 
him  known  as  well  in  the  South  as  he  had  been  in  the 
North. 

"  When  Mrs.  Stowe's  '  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  '  was  pub- 
lished in  1852,  Henry  Ward  Beecher  had  become  so  well 
known  that  thousands  of  people  in  the  country  were 
foolish  enough  to  believe  that  he  had  written  the  book 
for  her.  On  the  other  hand,  Mrs.  Stowe's  name  became 
so  famous  in  England,  that  for  many  years,  when  the 
English  papers  spoke  of  Mr.  Beecher,  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  mention  him  as  Mr.  Beecher  Stowe. 

"It  was  in  1856,  when  the  slavery  excitement  was 
more  intense  than  ever,  that  the  famous  Sharp's  rifle 
scene  took  place.  The  people  of  Kansas  had  been  left 
to  fight  out  the  question  of  slavery  among  themselves. 
The  Missourians  were  naturally  the  first  on  the  ground, 
and  brought  their  slaves  with  them,  but  a  number  of 
colonies  were  organized  in  New  England,  Ohio,  and  the 


l68      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

West,  who,  of  course,  were  strongly  opposed  to  slavery. 
The  Missouri  emigrants  regarded  the  Northern  ones  as 
intruders,  and,  being  accustomed  to  the  use  of  arms,  pro- 
ceeded to  drive  them  out.  The  Northern  men  there- 
upon appealed  to  their  friends  to  send  them  arms  for 
self-defence.  A  colony  was  being  organized  in  Connecti- 
cut, and  a  great  meeting  was  held  at  New  Haven  to 
raise  subscriptions  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  providing 
the  colonists  with  rifles.  Mr.  Beecher  was  there,  and 
made  a  very  stirring  speech,  insisting  on  the  right  of 
Northern  men  to  stand  up  in  self  defence.  A  subscrip- 
tion being  called  for,  the  Senior  Class  of  Yale  College 
announced  that  they  would  subscribe  $50  to  buy  one 
rifle.  Henry  Killam,  a  carriage  manufacturer,  gave  his 
name  as  a  subscriber  for  another  rifle.  It  was  then  that 
Mr.  Beecher  said,  '  Killam  !  That's  a  significant  name,' 
a  remark  which  brought  out  great  laughter  and  applause, 
and  which  was  the  origin  of  many  fierce  attacks  upon 
him  for  years  afterward." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

IN   THE   WAR   FOR    THE    UNION. 

Recruiting. — First  Long  Island  Regiment. — The  Brooklyn  Fourteenth.— 
Pets  of  Plymouth  Church. — The  Boys  Attend  Service. — "The  Na- 
tional Flag." — An  Eloquent  Patriotic  Appeal. — Applause  in  Church 
Rebuked. — Plymouth  Church  Barracks. — The  Maine  Regiment. — 
Church  Parlors  Occupied  as  a  Hospital. — Visits  to  the  Boys  in  Camp. 
— A  Welcome  Visitor. — Patriotic  Editorials. — Relations  with  Secre- 
tary Stanton. — The  National  Fast. — Freedom  of  the  People. — An 
Intellectual  Disquisition.  —  His  Visit  to  England.  —  His  Invaluable 
Services  as  a  Defender  of  the  Union. — The  Fort  Sumter  Celebration. 
— A  Pleasant  Reunion  of  Old-Time  Friends. — The  Restored  Union. — 
The  Key-note  to  Beecher's  Future  Course  in  Regard  to  the  South. — 
Startling  News. — Lincoln's  Assassination.  —  Beecher's  Grief. — The 
Funeral  Oration. — The  Martyr  President. 

MR.  BEECHER  not  only  spoke  on  every  occasion  in  de- 
fence of  the  Union,  but  also  actively  engaged  in  organ- 
izing and  equipping  the  First  Long  Island  (Infantry) 
Regiment,  known  as  the  "  Brooklyn  Phalanx,"  which 
was  largely  recruited  from  the  members  of  Plymouth 
Church.  His  son  Henry  was  an  officer  of  one  of  the 
companies.  Two  companies  of  the  famous  crack  regi- 
ment of  Brooklyn,  the  brave  Colonel  Wood's  Fourteenth, 
were  also  recruited  from  Plymouth  Church.  These  two 
companies  attended  service,  and  after  an  eloquent  ad- 


170      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

dress  on  "  The  National  Flag"  by  Mr.  Beecher,  $3,000  was 
raised  by  subscription  to  aid  in  completing  the  equip- 
ment of  the  regiment. 

This  address  is  probably  one  of  Mr.  Beecher's  most 
eloquent  appeals,  and  was  as  follows  : 

"  A  thoughtful  mind,  when  it  sees  a  nation's  flag,  sees 
not  the  flag,  but  the  nation  itself.  And  whatever  may 
be  its  symbols,  its  insignia,  he  reads  chiefly  in  the  flag 
the  government,  the  principles,  the  truths,  the  history 
that  belong  to  the  nation  that  sets  it  forth.  .  .  . 

"  This  nation  has  a  banner,  too ;  and  until  recently, 
wherever  it  streamed  abroad,  men  saw  daybreak  bursting 
on  their  eyes.  For  until  lately  the  American  flag  has 
been  a  symbol  of  Liberty,  and  men  rejoiced  in  it.  Not 
another  flag  on  the  globe  had  such  an  errand,  or  went 
forth  upon  the  sea,  carrying  every  where,  the  world  around, 
such  hope  to  the  captive,  and  such  glorious  tidings.  The 
stars  upon  it  were  to  the  pining  nations  like  the  bright 
morning  stars  of  God,  and  the  stripes  upon  it  were  beams 
of  morning  light.  As  at  early  dawn  the  stars  shine  forth 
even  while  it  grows  light,  and  then  as  the  sun  advances 
that  light  breaks  into  banks  and  streaming  lines  of  color, 
the  glowing  red  and  intense  white  striving  together,  and 
ribbing  the  horizon  with  bars  effulgent,  so,  on  the  Ameri- 
can flag,  stars  and  beams  of  many-colored  light  shine  out 
together.  .  .  .  It  is  the  banner  of  Dawn.  It  means 
Liberty.  .  .  .  Beginning  with  the  Colonies,  and  com- 


IN   THE   WAR   FOR   THE   UNION.  Ijl 

ing  down  to  our  time,  in  its  sacred  heraldry,  in  its  glori- 
ous insignia,  it  has  gathered  and  stored  chiefly  this  su- 
preme idea  :  Divine  right  of  liberty  in  man. 

"  And  displayed  it  shall  be.  Advanced  full  against 
the  morning  light,  and  borne  with  the  growing  and  glow- 
ing day,  it  shall  take  the  last  ruddy  beams  of  the  night, 
and  from  the  Atlantic  wave,  clear  across  with  eagle  flight 
to  the  Pacific,  that  banner  shall  float,  meaning  all  the 
liberty  which  it  has  ever  meant !  From  the  North,  where 
snows  and  mountain-ice  stand  solitary,  clear  to  the  glow- 
ing tropics  and  the  Gulf,  that  banner  that  has  hitherto 
waved  shall  wave  and  wave  forever — every  star,  every 
band,  every  thread  and  fold  significant  of  Liberty! 
[Great  applause.]  I  do  not  doubt  your  patriotism.  I 
know  it  is  hard  for  men  that  are  full  of  feeling  not  to  give 
expression  to  it ;  yet  excuse  me  if  I  request  you  to  re- 
frain from  demonstrations  of  applause  while  I  am  speak- 
ing. It  is  not  because  I  think  Sunday  too  good  a  day, 
nor  the  church  too  holy  a  place  for  patriotic  Christian 
men  to  express  their  feelings  at  such  a  time  as  this,  and 
in  behalf  of  such  sentiments,  but  because  by  too  frequent 
repetition  applause  becomes  stale  and  common,  that  I 
make  this  request.  Besides,  outward  expression  is  not 
our  way.  We  are  rather  of  a  silent  stock.  We  let  our 
feelings  work  inwardly,  so  that  they  may  have  deeper 
channels  and  fuller  floods. 


1/2      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

"  How  glorious,  then,  has  been  its  origin  !  How  glori- 
ous has  been  its  history !  How  divine  its  meaning ! 
.  .  .  made  by  liberty,  made  for  liberty,  nourished  in 
its  spirit,  carried  in  its  service,  and  never,  not  once  in  all 
the  earth,  made  to  stoop  to  despotism  ! 

"  And  now  this  banner  has  been  put  on  trial !  It  has 
been  condemned.  For  what  ?  Has  it  failed  of  duty  ? 
Has  liberty  lost  color  by  it  ?  Have  moths  of  oppression 
eaten  its  folds  ?  Has  it  refused  to  shine  on  freemen  and 
given  its  light  to  despots  ?  No.  It  has  been  true, 
brave,  loyal.  It  has  become  too  much  a  banner  of  lib- 
erty for  men  who  mean  and  plot  despotism.  Remember, 
citizen !  remember,  Christian  soldier !  the  American  flag 
has  been  fired  upon  by  Americans,  and  trodden  down 
because  it  stood  in  the  way  of  slavery ! 

"  And  now  God  speaks  by  the  voice  of  His  providence, 
saying,  '  Lift  again  that  banner !  Advance  it  full  and 
high  ! '  To  your  hand,  and  to  yours,  God  and  your 
country  commit  that  imperishable  trust.  You  go  forth, 
self-called,  or  rather  called  by  the  trust  of  your  country- 
men, and  by  the  Spirit  of  your  God,  to  take  that  trailing 
banner  out  of  the  dust  and  out  of  the  mire,  and  lift  it 
again  where  God's  rains  can  cleanse  it,  and  where  God's 
free  air  can  cause  it  to  unfold  and  stream  as  it  has  always 


IN  THE   WAR   FOR  THE   UNION.  173 

floated  before  the  wind.     God  bless  the  men  that  go  forth 
to  save  from  disgrace  the  American  flag ! 

"  Nor  is  it  enough  that  that  banner  shall  stand  and 
merely  reassert  its  authority.  It  is  time  now  that  that 
banner  shall  do  as  much  for  each  man  in  our  own  country 
as  it  will  in  every  other  land  on  the  globe.  .  .  . 

"  You  go  to  serve  your  country  in  the  cause  of  liberty ; 
and  if  God  brings  you  into  conflict  erelong  with  those 
misguided  men  of  the  South,  when  you  see  their  miser- 
able, new-vamped  banner,  remember  what  that  flag 
means — Treason,  Slavery,  Despotism  ;  then  look  up 
and  see  the  bright  stars  and  the  glorious  stripes  over  your 
own  head,  and  read  in  them  Liberty,  Liberty,  LIBERTY  ! 

"  And  if  you  fall  in  that  struggle,  may  some  kind  hand 
wrap  around  about  you  the  flag  of  your  country,  and  may 
you  die  with  its  sacred  touch  upon  you  !  It  shall  be 
sweet  to  go  to  rest  lying  in  the  folds  of  your  country's 
banner,  meaning,  as  it  shall  mean,  '  Liberty  and  Union, 
now  and  forever.'  .  .  ." 

In  the  autumn  of  1862  a  Maine  regiment  arrived  in 
Brooklyn  en  route  to  the  front,  and  all  the  barracks  in 
this  vicinity  being  occupied,  Mr.  Beecher  offered  them  the 
shelter  of  Plymouth  Church.  The  steady  increase  of  the 
Sunday-school,  which  kept  pace  with  that  in  the  church, 
had  necessitated  frequent  additions,  and  in  1862  a  new 
building  was  erected  by  a  subscription  of  $10,800  on  the 


1/4      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

property  of  the  organization  on  Cranberry  Street,  giving  a 
large  parlor  for  the  social  meetings  as  well  as  larger  school 
accommodations.  The  regiment  was  quartered  here  two 
days,  sleeping  on  the  cushioned  seats  in  the  church  and 
occupying  the  parlors  by  day. 

The  march  of  the  regiment  had  been  in  a  chilly  rain, 
and  many  were  sick  from  the  effects  of  colds  contracted, 
and  they  were  quartered  in  the  parlors  for  four  weeks,  at- 
tended by  the  surgeons.  A  sewing  society  was  organized 
by  the  ladies  of  the  church,  to  supply  the  army  hospitals 
with  various  necessary  articles,  as  well  as  for  the  desti- 
tute freedmen  from  the  South,  who  were  always  remem- 
bered by  Mr.  Beecher  in  his  prayers  and  sermons.  This 
sewing  society,  it  may  be  observed,  has  always  been  con- 
tinued in  aid  of  the  poor  of  the  church,  and  a  branch  in- 
structs the  children  of  the  poor  in  sewing,  both  by  hand 
and  by  machine. 

Mr.  Beecher  preached  in  Plymouth  Church,  May  I, 
1863,  on  the  occasion  of  "  The  National  Fast,"  a  sermon 
on  "  The  Freedom  of  the  Common  People."  The  text 
was  as  follows : 

"  Go  through,  go  through  the  gates ;  prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  people ;  cast  up  the  highway ;  gather  out  the 
stones  ;  lift  up  a  standard  for  the  people."  He  said  that 
it  seemed  strange  to  hear  sounding  back,  so  far  back, 
this  declaration  of  the  Christian  doctrine  of  Democracy, 
"  lift  up  a  standard  for  the  people? 


IN   THE   WAR   FOR   THE    UNION.  1/5 

This  nation,  above  all  others,  was  raised  up  to  expound 
and  exhibit  the  prosperity  of  a  free,  intelligent  common 
people.  The  ancient  attempts  at  free  government  were 
based  more  on  the  liberty  of  the  State  than  upon  the 
elevation,  by  freedom,  of  individual  citizens.  There  were 
almost  insuperable  reasons  why,  at  a  former  period  in 
other  lands,  this  experiment  could  not  be  tried.  Our 
ante-Revolutionary  period  might  be  considered  the  trial 
trip  of  Republicanism.  Had  European  statesmen,  with 
malign  foresight,  seen  development  of  the  spirit  of  liberty 
here,  they  would  have  saddled  upon  us  institutions  which 
would  have  crippled,  if  they  had  not  ended,  our  experi- 
ment of  free  government ;  but  luckily  they  looked  upon 
this  country  as  a  good  safety-valve  to  Europe.  When  they 
saw  the  probable  power  developing  on  this  continent,  it 
was  too  late  for  them  to  interfere.  Now,  in  the  division 
of  this  empire  against  itself,  they  believed  that  to  them 
was  opened  a  new  opportunity.  Though  they  had  stricken 
hands  in  substantial  sympathy  with  the  internal  enemies 
of  our  country,  it  was  a  part  of  a  scheme — too  long  de- 
layed for  success — to  estop  the  development  of  our  great 
people. 

Should  the  experiment  succeed,  God  had  graciously 
given  room  enough  for  its  expansion  on  a  grand  scale.  It 
was  fortunate  that  the  populations  of  Europe  did  not  at 
first  swarm  over  here  indiscriminately ;  but  now  that  our 
institutions  were  established,  our  industries  organized, 
8 


1/6      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

they  could  come — they  were  mainly  the  young  and  en- 
terprising— and  fall  into  this  people  as  drops  of  water  fall 
into  the  ocean,  and  in  a  moment  are  salt.  We  moulded 
them,  not  they  us.  The  influence  of  this  nation  by  ex- 
ample upon  human  rights  was  greater  than  all  other  agen- 
cies ;  it  was  the  silent  voice  of  prosperity,  that  pleaded  and 
had  no  respondent.  One  of  our  reasons  of  confession  and 
repentance  was  that  the  people  had  ceased  to  regard  this 
Government  as  a  gift  of  God  for  the  good  of  mankind, 
and  had  come  to  view  it  almost  wholly  from  selfishness, 
and  in  its  relations  to  their  own  immediate  good.  This 
was  not  patriotism,  but  was  full  of  inevitable  corruption. 
In  fifty  years  this  nation  had  plunged  into  gainful  enter- 
prises with  a  power  and  success  which  had  almost  ma- 
terialized it. 

In  some  respects  it  had  been  beneficial ;  for  indirectly 
it  had  by  industry,  order,  and  prosperity  promoted  moral- 
ity. But  it  had  tended  to  substitute  the  love  of  gain 
and  wealth  for  right,  for  justice,  for  magnanimity.  An 
incipient  plutocracy  was  springing  up,  tending  to  augment 
the  power  of  a  class  at  the  expense  of  the  public  good. 
One  of  the  most  alarming  dangers  to-day  was  the  power 
and  facility  of  bribery — the  vote  hung  in  the  shambles. 
It  corrupted  national,  state,  and  municipal  legislation. 
The  doctrine  of  liberty  for  the  common  people — an  en- 
thusiasm, a  fanaticism,  almost,  in  our  early  history — had 
gradually  decayed.  The  doctrine  of  liberty  for  the  com- 


IN   THE   WAR   FOR   THE    UNION.  177 

mon  people  had  brought  more  threats  to  its  champions 
than  ever  did  all  the  tyranny  of  Europe.  He  claimed 
the  right,  in  the  name  of  his  Lord  and  Master,  to  call  the 
slave  his  brother.  Talk  about  the  abuse  of  slavery — it 
was  not  in  the  power  of  fiendish  ingenuity  to  abuse  it. 
Slavery  never  could  be  worked  up  to  the  pressure  it  was 
gauged  for  in  the  law.  It  says  you  may  put  so  many 
pounds  to  the  inch,  but  there  was  not  an  engineer  in  the 
South  who  would  dare  to  run  the  system  up  to  what  the 
law  allows. 

Four  millions  of  human  beings  were  by  American  law 
denuded  of  manhood.  Children  through  the  South  as 
sweet  as  theirs,  and  as  white,  were  brought  up  expressly 
for  concubinage.  There  was  but  one  class  toward  whom 
he  could  not  feel  pity — they  were  hoary  and  reverend 
presidents  of  colleges,  who  spent  their  years  trying  to 
make  their  pupils  believe  it  was  right  to  hold  men  in 
slavery — when  they  took  Calvary  for  their  infernal  pur- 
pose, and  the  drops  of  blood — then,  said  Mr.  Beecher, "  I 
have  no  mercy,  I  am  adamant,  I  curse  them  in  the  name 
of  my  God.  [Applause.]  What  an  awful  terror  must 
rest  on  their  conscience,  that  they  have  taken  the  blood 
of  atonement  that  they  might  sanctify  and  seal  man  over 
to  the  devil  therewith."  [Sensation.]  God  had  opened 
the  prison  doors,  and  we  had  come  to  the  times  that 
would  try  men's  souls.  But  if  the  people  were  true  to 
the  faith  of  their  fathers,  there  would  come  emancipation, 


1/8      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

and  liberty  would  be  fixed  forever.  The  signs  of  the 
times  were  growing  brighter.  The  sun  of  liberty  had 
not  risen,  but  it  was  daylight  in  the  heavens. 

The  services,  which  occupied  about  two  hours,  con- 
cluded with  singing  and  benediction.  The  church  was 
crowded  to  its  utmost. 

Mr.  Beecher  visited  the  regiments  he  had  been  so  active 
in  equipping  at  their  headquarters  in  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac. His  presence,  it  is  almost  needless  to  say,  always 
excited  great  enthusiasm,  and  inspired  the  boys  with  pa- 
triotic ardor.  He  never  missed  an  occasion  to  deliver  a 
patriotic  address,  and  often  spoke  at  the  out-of-door 
"  war  meetings,"  to  the  injury  of  his  voice.  He  became 
the  editor  of  The  Independent,  to  which  he  had  long  been 
a  regular  contributor.  Mrs.  Stowe  says  :  "  He  wished 
this  chance  to  speak  from  time  to  time  his  views  and  opin- 
ions to  the  whole  country.  He  was  in  constant  com- 
munication with  the  Secretary  of  War,  in  whose  patriot- 
ism, sagacity,  and  wonderful  efficiency  he  had  the  greatest 
reliance."  The  severe  strain  of  his  exertions  in  and  out 
of  his  pulpit,  and  "the  burden  of  the  war  upon  his 
spirit,"  impaired  his  health,  robust  and  vigorous  as  he 
had  been  since  his  Atlantic  trip  in  1850,  and  the  loss  of 
his  voice  was  threatened  unless  he  permitted  himself 
recreation.  He  was  urged  by  his  congregation  to  take  a 
summer  trip  to  Europe,  and  was  absent  from  June,  1863, 
till  the  ensuing  October. 


IN   THE   WAR   FOR  THE   UNION. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  when  Mr.  Beecher  re- 
turned from  England  he  could  have  claimed  any  reward 
in  the  gift  of  the  Government.  But  he  had  his  reward  in 
the  gratitude  of  the  nation  and  the  affectionate  demon- 
strations of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  simply  resumed  his 
work  in  its  several  lines,  and  continued  the  successes  of 
his  life. 

The  fourth  anniversary  of  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sum- 
ter,  Charleston  Harbor,  by  Major  Robert  Anderson,  was 
commemorated  April  12,  1865,  by  raising  the  identical 
flag  that  had  been  hauled  down  on  that  occasion.  There 
was  a  large  gathering  on  the  ramparts  of  the  battered  old 
fort,  many  of  the  old-time  Abolitionists  being  present,  in- 
cluding, of  course,  many  members  of  Plymouth  Church. 
Mr.  Beecher  was  invited  to  deliver  the  address.  He 
made  one  of  his  most  stirring  addresses  of  congratulation 
on  the  proper  and  successful  termination  of  the  war,  clos- 
ing with  an  eloquent  appeal  for  the  establishment  of  a  re- 
stored union  between  the  North  and  the  South,  which 
since  the  abolition  of  slavery  by  Lincoln's  proclamation 
could  not  fail  to  come  together  again  as  brothers  and  per- 
petuate a  great  and  prosperous  country.  For  the  im- 
poverished South  he  had  only  kind  words. 

Returning  home,  when  the  steamer  touched  at  Fort- 
ress Monroe  the  party,  none  more  than  Mr.  Beecher,  were 
horrified  and  shocked  to*  be  told  of  the  assassination  of 
President  Lincoln.  On  the  following  Sabbath,  April  23, 


l8o      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

1865,  Plymouth  Church  was  crowded  as  it  had  never 
been  crowded  before,  and  Mr.  Beecher  preached  an  elo- 
quent sermon  on  the  sad  event. 

He  took  as  his  text  the  first  five  verses  of  the  last 
chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  and  commenced  his  discourse 
by  drawing  a  parallel  between  the  history  of  Moses, 
after  leading  his  people  many  weary  years  through  the 
wilderness,  obtaining  only  a  vision  and  not  a  realization 
of  the  promised  land  and  dying,  and  that  of  President 
Lincoln  passing  through  toil,  sorrow,  and  war,  to  come 
near  to  the  promised  land  of  peace,  into  which  he  might 
not  pass  over.  The  speaker  went  on  to  say  that  two  such 
orbs  of  joy  and  sorrow  never  before  came  together  as  we 
had  witnessed  in  one  week.  "  The  joy  of  the  nation 
came  upon  us  suddenly,  with  such  a  surge  as  no  words 
could  describe.  Men  laughed,  embraced  one  another,  sung 
and  prayed,  and  many  could  only  weep  gladness.  In  one 
hour  joy  had  no  pulse.  The  sorrow  was  so  terrible  that 
it  stunned  sensibility.  The  first  feeling  was  the  least, 
and  men  wanted  to  get  strength  to  feel.  Other  griefs 
belong  always  to  some  one  in  chief,  but  this  belonged  to 
all.  Men  walked  for  days  as  though  a  corpse  lay  in  their 
houses.  The  city  forgot  to  roar.  Never  did  so  many 
hearts  in  so  brief  a  time  touch  two  such  boundless  feel- 
ings. It  was  the  uttermost  of  joy  and  the  uttermost  of 
sorrow — noon  and  midnight  without  a  space  between. 
We  should  not  mourn,  however,  because  the  departure 


IN   THE   WAR   FOR   THE    UNION.  l8l 

of  the  President  was  so  sudden.  When  one  is  prepared 
to  die,  the  suddenness  of  death  is  a  blessing.  They  that 
are  taken  awake  and  watching,  as  the  bridegroom  dressed 
for  the  wedding,  and  not  those  that  die  in  pain  and 
stupor,  are  blessed.  Neither  should  we  mourn  the  man- 
ner of  his  death.  The  soldier  prays  that  he  may  die  by 
the  shot  of  the  enemy  in  the  hour  of  victory,  and  it  was 
meet  that  he  should  be  joined  in  a  common  experience  in 
death  with  the  brave  men  to  whom  he  had  been  joined 
in  all  his  sympathy  and  life. 

"  This  blow  was  but  the  expiring  rebellion.  Epito- 
mized in  this  foul  act  we  find  the  whole  nature  and  dis- 
position of  slavery.  It  is  fit  that  its  expiring  blow  should 
be  such  as  to  take  away  from  men  the  last  forbearance,  the 
last  pity,  and  fire  the  soul  with  invincible  determination 
that  the  breeding  system  of  such  mischiefs  and  monsters 
shall  be  forever  and  utterly  destroyed.  We  needed  not 
that  he  should  put  on  paper  that  he  believed  in  slavery, 
*vho  with  treason,  with  murder,  with  cruelty  infernal,  hov- 
ered around  that  majestic  man  to  destroy  his  life.  He  was 
himself  the  long-life  sting  with  which  Slavery  struck  at 
Liberty,  and  he  carried  the  poison  that  belonged  to  slav- 
ery ;  and  as  long  as  this  nation  lasts  it  will  never  be  for- 
gotten that  we  have  had  one  martyr-President — never, 
never  while  time  lasts,  while  heaven  lasts,  while  hell 
rocks  and  groans,  .will  it  be  forgotten  that  slavery  by  its 
minions  slew  him,  and  in  slaying  him  made  manifest  its 


1 82      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

whole  nature  and  tendency.  This  blow  was  aimed  at  the 
life  of  the  Government.  Some  murders  there  have  been 
that  admitted  shades  of  palliation,  but  not  such  a  one 
as  this — without  provocation,  without  reason,  without 
temptation,  sprung  from  the  fury  of  a  heart  cankered  to 
all  that  is  pure  and  just  by  slavery. 

"  The  blow  has  failed  of  its  object.  The  Government 
stands  more  solid  to-day  than  any  pyramid  of  Egypt. 
Men  love  liberty  and  hate  slavery  to-day  more  than 
ever  before.  How  naturally,  how  easily,  the  Govern- 
ment passed  into  the  hands  of  the  new  President,  and 
I  avow  my  belief,  that  he  will  be  found  a  man  true  to 
every  instinct  of  liberty,  true  to  the  whole  trust  that 
is  imposed  in  him,  vigilant  of  the  Constitution,  careful 
of  the  laws,  wise  for  liberty,  in  that  he  himself,  for  his 
life  long,  has  known  what  it  is  to  suffer  from  the  stings  of 
slavery,  and  to  prize  liberty  from  the  bitter  experiences 
of  his  own  life.  Even  he  that  sleeps  has  by  this  event 
been  clothed  with  new  influence.  His  simple  and  weighty 
words  will  be  gathered  like  those  of  Washington,  and 
quoted  by  those  who,  were  he  alive,  would  refuse  to 
listen.  Men  will  receive  a  new  access  to  patriotism.  I 
swear  you  on  the  altar  of  his  memory  to  be  more  faithful 
to  that  country  for  which  he  has  perished.  They  will,  as 
they  follow  his  hearse,  swear  a  new  hatred  to  that  slavery 
against  which  he  warred,  and  which  in  vanquishing  him 
has  made  him  a  martyr  and  conqueror.  I  swear  you  by 


IN  THE  WAR  FOR  THE   UNION.  183 

the  memory  of  this  martyr  to  hate  slavery  with  an  un- 
abatable  hatred,  and  to  pursue  it.  They  will  admire  the 
firmness  of  this  man  in  justice,  his  inflexible  conscience  for 
the  right,  his  gentleness  and  moderation  of  spirit,  which 
not  all  the  hate  of  party  could  turn  to  bitterness.  And 
I  swear  you  to  his  justice,  and  to  his  moderation,  and  to 
his  mercy.  How  can  I  speak  to  that  twilight  million 
to  whom  his  name  was  as  the  name  of  an  angel  of  God, 
and  whom  God  sent  before  them  to  lead  them  out  of  the 
house  of  bondage.  O,  thou  Shepherd  of  Israel,  thou  that 
didst  comfort  Thy  people  of  old,  to  Thy  care  we  commit 
these  helpless  and  long  wronged  and  grieved. 

"  And  now  the  martyr  is  moving  in  triumphal  march 
mightier  than  one  alive.  The  nation  rises  up  at  every 
stage  of  his  coming  ;  cities  and  States  are  his  pall-bearers, 
and  the  cannon  beats  the  hours  in  solemn  progression ; 
dead,  dead,  dead,  he  yet  speaketh.  Is  Washington  dead  ? 
Is  Hampden  dead  ?  Is  David  ?  Disenthralled  from  the 
flesh  and  risen  to  the  unobstructed  sphere  where  passion 
never  comes,  he  begins  his  illimitable  work.  His  life 
now  is  grafted  upon  the  infinite,  and  will  be  fruitful  as 
no  earthly  life  can  be.  Pass  on.  Four  years  ago,  O 
Illinois,  we  took  from  your  midst  an  untried  man  from 
among  the  people.  Behold,  we  return  him  to  you  a 
mighty  conqueror,  not  thine  any  more,  but  the  nation's — 
not  ours,  but  the  world's.  Give  him  place,  O  ye  prai- 
ries !  in  the  midst  of  this  great  continent  his  dust  shall 
8* 


1 84      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

rest  a  sacred  treasure  to  myriads  who  shall  pilgrim  to 
that  shrine  to  kindle  anew  their  zeal  and  patriotism.  Ye 
winds  that  move  over  the  mighty  spaces  of  the  West, 
chant  his  requiem  !  Ye  people,  behold  the  martyr  whose 
blood,  as  so  many  articulate  words,  pleads  for  fidelity,  for 
law,  for  liberty  ! " 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HIS  VISIT  TO  ENGLAND  IN   1863. 

His  Greatest  Oratorical  Effort. — Going  Abroad  for  a  Vacation. — Three 
Months  on  the  Continent. — Reluctantly  consents  to  speak  in  Eng- 
land.— British  Sympathy  with  the  South. — Speech  at  Manchester. — 
Facing  a  British  Mob. — Unsuccessful  Attempts  to  silence  Him. — 
How  He  Triumphed. — Speaking  Plain  Truths. — Shaking  Hands  with 
an  Umbrella. — Speech  at  Glasgow. — Opposition  of  the  Blockade- 
Runners. — His  Address  at  Liverpool. — Inflammatory  Placards  on  the 
Streets. — Scenes  of  Great  Disorder. — Making  Himself  Heard. — Ar- 
rival in  London. — Famous  in  Clubs  and  Social  Circles. — Prostrated 
with  Exhaustion. — Speech  in  Exeter  Hall. — A  Friendly  Audience. — 
Immense  Enthusiasm. — An  Historical  Narrative. — Change  of  Public 
Opinion. — Effect  of  Mr.  Beecher's  Speeches. 

IN  the  spring  of  1863  Mr.  Beecher  was  beginning  to 
feel  the  effect  of  the  arduous  duties  he  had  imposed  on 
himself,  and  fearing  that  he  might  break  down  under  the 
severe  strain  on  both  his  mental  and  physical  powers,  he 
made  up  his  mind  to  tear  himself  away  from  the  scenes 
of  so  much  excitement  and  try  the  effect  of  a  sea  voyage 
and  a  short  sojourn  in  Europe  as  a  means  of  recuperation. 
Many  people  supposed  at  the  time,  and  many  still  con- 
tinue to  labor  under  the  same  false  impression,  that  Mr. 
Beecher  went  over  to  England  at  the  instance  of  the 


1 86      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

United  States  Government.  This  is  an  erroneous  idea. 
The  trip  at  the  outset  had  no  significance  beyond  the 
immediate  benefit  he  anticipated  deriving  from  the 
change  of  air  and  scene,  and  possessed  no  interest  out- 
side the  circle  of  his  personal  friends  and  the  members  of 
nis  congregation,  who  were  the  pressing  instigators  of 
their  pastor  leaving  his  flock,  and  who  cheerfully  bore 
the  expenses  he  had  to  incur. 

Mr.  Beecher  was  never  a  good  sailor,  and  most  of  the 
time  of  a  long  and  tedious  voyage  was  passed  by  him  on 
his  back  in  his  cabin. 

When  he  landed  in  England  he  was  met  by  many  re- 
quests to  lecture,  but  to  all  he  turned  a  deaf  ear,  having 
made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  neither  preach  nor  lect- 
ure during  his  stay  in  the  country.  At  this  time  the  feel- 
ing of  the  upper  and  middle  classes  in  England  was  in 
favor  of  the  South.  These  classes  constituted  the  voting 
and  ruling  power  of  the  land.  The  lower  or  unvoting 
class  was  strongly  disposed  toward  the  North.  Mr. 
Beecher  did  not  feel  particularly  friendly  toward  England 
for  the  attitude  she  had  assumed  on  the  war  question,  and 
after  leaving  Liverpool,  where  he  had  landed,  he  had  only 
paid  short  visits  to  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  Manchester,  and 
London  before  he  left  for  a  three  months'  tour  on  the  Con- 
tinent. He  had  steadily  refused  to  open  his  mouth  in 
public  on  British  soil,  but  at  a  Temperance  breakfast  given 
to  him  in  Scotland  he  had  made  a  speech  on  the  under- 


HIS  VISIT  TO  ENGLAND   IN    1863.  187 

standing  that  nothing  was  to  be  reported.  In  London, 
likewise,  he  had  been  induced  to  break  through  his  re- 
solve. The  Congregational  clergymen  of  that  city  had 
invited  him  to  meet  them  at  breakfast,  and  he  took  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  expressing  strongly  his  indigna- 
tion that  they  as  a  body  of  clergymen  should  have  thrown 
their  sympathy  on  the  side  of  slavery. 

The  Anti-Slavery  Union  after  this  endeavored  to  per- 
suade him  to  make  some  speeches,  but  their  efforts  were 
unavailing. 

On  the  Continent  he  wandered  through  France,  Ger- 
many, Switzerland,  and  Italy,  and  finally  returned  to  Paris. 
It  was  here  that  the  news  came  to  him  of  Grant's  great 
victory  at  Vicksburg,  and  also  the  triumph  at  Gettysburg. 
At  the  same  hotel  where  he  was  stopping  in  Paris  there 
were  a  number  of  Southerners  who  had  made  a  point  of 
indirectly  insulting  him  in  various  ways,  but  after  the  ar- 
rival of  the  news  of  these  two  great  victories  he  saw  them 
no  more.  They  had  crowed  in  the  hour  of  triumph,  but 
could  not  hold  up  their  heads  in  adversity. 

On  his  return  to  England  he  was  again  met  by  the  same 
pressing  importunities  to  make  some  addresses.  For  a 
time  he  continued  to  decline,  but  he  veered  round  with  a 
strong  determination  to  fight  when  he  learned  that  a  move- 
ment was  on  foot  to  turn  the  lower  classes  from  their  ad- 
herence to  the  cause  of  liberty.  He  finally  consented  to 
speak  at  Manchester,  and  soon  afterward  it  was  arranged 


1 88      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

that  he  should  speak  at  Liverpool,  Glasgow,  Edinburgh, 
and  London. 

When  he  proceeded  to  Manchester  to  make  what  might 
really  be  called  his  first  public  speech  in  behalf  of  his 
cause,  he  expected  to  find  very  hostile  demonstrations 
against  him.  Influential  opinion  throughout  the  country 
was  strongly  in  favor  of  the  South,  and  based  on  very 
flimsy  and  unreliable  information  as  regarded  facts,  so 
that  he  met  but  very  few  who  understood  the  conflict, 
and  who  took  the  side  of  the  North.  The  few  people  of 
this  mind  that  he  had  met,  when  they  related  their  ex- 
periences in  the  endeavors  they  had  made  to  change  the 
popular  sentiment  of  England,  might  have  intimidated  a 
weaker  man.  But  fear  had  no  part  in  Henry  Ward 
Beecher's  creed.  He  had  been  first  surprised  at  the  ig- 
norance generally  displayed  on  the  subject  of  the  Civil 
War,  then  indignant  at  the  manner  in  which  the  subject 
was  treated,  and  had  been  somewhat  inclined  to  treat  with 
silent  contempt  a  nation  who  could  howl  down  any  at- 
tempt to  expound  truth  unto  them.  From  this  mood, 
however,  he  had  been  roused,  and  now  that  he  had  deter- 
mined to  speak,  any  sign  of  opposition  only  made  his  de- 
termination stronger,  and  he  was  fully  resolved  not  only 
to  speak,  but  to  be  heard. 

But,  prepared  as  he  was  for  hostile  demonstrations,  he 
could  hardly  have  believed  the  excitement  would  have 
been  so  great.  Blood-red  placards  were  all  over  the 


HIS  VISIT  TO   ENGLAND   IN    1863.  189 

place  denouncing  Mr.  Beecher  and  his  principles,  and  his 
friends  were  down-hearted  at  the  gloomy  outlook.  Se- 
renely and  calmly  he  told  them  he  was  going  to  be  heard 
all  the  same,  and  infused  into  them  a  little  of  the  power- 
ful fighting  incentive  he  had  in  himself  to  overcome  diffi- 
culties. 

The  Manchester  address  was  delivered  at  the  Free 
Trade  Hall.  The  excitement  had  been  naturally  great, 
but  it  had  been  fostered  and  played  with  and  intensified, 
and  now  it  was  at  its  highest  pitch.  As  soon  as  Mr. 
Beecher  appeared  the  scene  baffled  description ;  the 
cheering,  hissing,  stamping,  clapping,  shouting,  and  groan- 
ing shook  the  hall  almost  to  its  foundations.  He  rose, 
a  carefully  prepared  manuscript  in  his  hand,  and  had  got 
as  far  as  "  Mr.  Chairman,"  when  the  cries  of  approval  and 
disapproval  burst  forth  anew.  Ever  quick  at  noting  the 
temper  of  his  audience,  he  quickly  responded  to  the 
groans  and  hisses  of  his  opponents  by  tossing  his  manu- 
script aside,  and  then  set  himself  down  to  a  regular  fight. 

For  two  hours  was  he  on  his  feet,  making,  not  a  speech 
— that  would  be  too  mild  a  term — but  a  triumphant  prog- 
ress, interrupted  by  difficulties  and  obstacles,  surmounted 
as  fast  as  presented,  dealing  with  facts,  statistics,  and 
arguments,  without  once  having  to  refer  to  a  note  or 
being  at  a  loss  for  a  word.  At  the  outset  he  had  noticed 
that  his  earnest  sympathizers  and  opponents  were 
about  evenly  matched  in  point  of  numbers  ;  he  decided, 


190      LIFE  AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

therefore,  not  to  address  himself  directly  to  either  of 
these,  but  to  endeavor  to  impart  instruction  and  bring 
conviction  to  the  large  number  who  did  not  possess 
strong  feelings  either  way.  He  discussed  the  value  of 
freedom  and  the  evils  of  slavery,  and  exhorted  the  man- 
ufacturing community  in  their  own  interest  to  stand  by 
the  cause  of  liberty. 

If  his  opponents  had  been  able  to  accomplish  what 
they  endeavored  to  do  that  day — to  break  him  down  on 
his  first  speech — it  would  have  been  a  great  triumph  for 
them  ;  but  they  did  not  know  the  man.  With  quick  re- 
tort and  ready  repartee,  he  gazed  on  his  audience  calmly 
and  determinedly,  replying  to  questions  hurled  at  him, 
smiling  and  laughing  outright  at  ludicrous  interruptions, 
patiently  waiting  the  subsidence  of  tumult,  but  all  the 
same,  as  opportunity  offered,  quietly  and  distinctly  pro- 
gressing in  his  subject  until  the  end  came  and  the  vote 
that  was  called  off  proved  to  each  man  in  the  audience 
and  to  the  world  at  large  the  power  of  the  advocate  and 
the  greatness  of  his  cause. 

It  was  a  great  triumph,  more  especially  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  this  was  Mr.  Beecher's  first  experience  with 
an  English  mixed  audience.  He  had  dreaded  it,  and  for 
a  short  time  had  felt  a  horrible  feeling  of  timidity  come 
over  him,  fearing  that  he  might  fail  ;  but  he  had  cast  it 
off,  leaving  the  matter,  as  he  himself  said,  "  in  the  hands 
of  God,"  and  from  that  moment  he  had  known  no  recur- 


HIS  VISIT  TO  ENGLAND   IN    1863.  ipl 

rence  of  the  feeling.  As  he  was  leaving  the  hall  he  was 
congratulated  on  all  sides.  One  big  burly  Englishman 
some  distance  away  wanted  to  shake  hands  with  him,  but 
could  not  get  near  him  on  account  of  the  crowd.  Reach- 
ing over  the  heads  of  the  people,  he  held  out  his  um- 
brella and  called  out,  "  Shake  my  umbrella ! "  Mr. 
Beecher  did  so,  and  the  man  shouted,  "  By  Jock  !  no- 
body shall  touch  that  umbrella  again  !  " 

After  the  Manchester  address  came  the  speech  at  Glas- 
gow. Here  he  found  his  audience  at  the  City  Hall,  in 
almost  as  great  a  state  of  tumult  as  that  at  Manchester, 
but  he  was  now  confident  of  his  power,  and  had  no  fear 
of  the  result.  A  great  favorite  on  the  Glasgow  plat- 
form, the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Anderson,  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  introduce  Mr.  Beecher,  but  he  could  not 
make  himself  heard.  Mr.  Beecher  walked  to  the  front 
and  quietly  descanted  on  the  beauty  of  the  Scottish  scen- 
ery, the  bravery  and  heroism  of  Scotland's  warriors,  the 
renown  of  its  bards  and  poets,  with  so  much  eloquence 
that  the  enthusiasm  of  his  audience  was  enkindled,  and  he 
was  greeted  with  a  spontaneous  burst  of  applause.  He 
then  endeavored  to  bring  in  the  all-burning  question,  but 
the  marks  of  disapprobation  were  of  so  expressive  a  nat- 
ure that  he  said  "  he  would  sit  down  and  rest  until  they 
got  the  hissing  over." 

After  a  while  he  got  a  hearing  and  repeated  his  pro- 
gressive triumph  at  Manchester.  The  audience  was  as- 


192      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

tonished  at  his  quickness  of  retort  and  his  fluency  of 
speech,  and  they  admired  his  pluck  and  good  temper. 
Anecdote  followed  anecdote  in  quick  succession  in  his 
endeavor  to  keep  his  audience  in  good  humor,  but  calmly 
and  firmly  he  insisted  on  informing  them  that  the  South 
would  be  brought  back  to  their  allegiance,  and  that  the 
war  should  not  cease  so  long  as  there  was  a  slave  in 
America  on  whom  the  sun  of  heaven  could  shine.  To 
one  man  who  cried,  "  We  don't  sympathize  with  slavery, 
but  we  go  for  the  South  because  they  are  the  weaker 
party,"  he  replied,  "  Go,  then,  and  sympathize  with  the 
devil — he  was  the  weaker  party  also  when  he  rebelled 
and  was  turned  out  of  heaven.  Yours  is  a  good  enough 
argument  for  school-boys  ten  years  of-  age.  Hold  a 
string  between  them  and  see  who  is  the  strongest ;  but 
when  the  principles  of  liberty  and  slavery  are  the  ques- 
tions, it  is  a  shame  for  a  man  of  your  age  to  talk  that 
way."  His  questioners  were  at  length  silenced,  and  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  his  address  he  had  it  all  his  own 
way,  and  he  demonstrated  the  unity  of  labor  the  world 
over,  and  discussed  the  relations  of  the  laboring  man  to 
government,  and  to  the  aristocratic  classes,  and  how 
slavery  made  labor  disreputable.  He  also  insisted  that 
it  was  a  disgrace  to  them  to  be  building  ships  to  put 
down  the  laborers  of  America,  and  to  cast  shame  and 
contempt  on  themselves  and  on  every  man  on  earth  that 
earned  his  living  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow. 


HIS   VISIT   TO   ENGLAND   IN    1863.  193 

Mr.  Beecher  had  more  than  made  his  mark  in  two  im- 
portant cities,  and  the  British  people  were  now  beginning 
to  see  the  case  more  clearly  ;  the  press,  which  had  been 
generally  vilifying  and  attacking  him  and  his  cause  in 
slashing  editorials,  began  now  to  modify  and  soften  their 
remarks ;  and  a  particularly  significant  act  of  the  govern- 
ment stopped  the  blockade-runners  that  had  been  build- 
ing on  the  Mersey.  There  can  be  no  doubt  now  that 
Mr.  Beecher's  presence  in  England  two  years  earlier 
would  have  prevented,  to  a  large  extent,  British  sympa- 
thy for  the  South. 

In  Edinburgh  he  found  a  more  educated  audience,  and 
discussed  the  effect  of  the  presence  of  slavery  on  litera- 
ture and  learning.  The  audience  was  a  very  large  one, 
but  there  was  less  commotion  than  he  had  experienced 
at  either  Manchester  or  Glasgow. 

Glasgow  and  Liverpool  were  the  last  possible  places 
Mr.  Beecher  could  have  looked  to  for  sympathy  in  his 
cause,  from  the  fact  of  the  Clyde  and  the  Mersey  fur- 
nishing blockade-runners,  and  also  other  mercantile  inter- 
ests that  were  involved.  Consequently,  in  going  to 
Liverpool  he  did  not  anticipate  smooth  sailing.  Man- 
chester had  been  bad  enough,  but  it  was  as  peace  to  war 
in  comparison  to  the  popular  feeling  that  now  awaited 
him.  The  most  scurrilous  and  abusive  cards  were  plac- 
arded on  the  streets  and  in  every  available  space,  calling 
on  the  people  to  give  the  man  that  was  coming  "  the 


194      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

welcome  he  deserved."  Some  idea  of  this  ink  attack 
may  be  gathered  from  the  following  specimen  of  a  poster, 
the  original  size  being  25x38  inches  : 

WHO    IS   HENRY  WARD   BEECHER? 

He  is  the  man  who  said  the  best  blood  of  England 
must  be  shed  to  atone  for  the  Trent  affair. 

He  is  the  man  who  advocates  a  war  of  extermination 
with  the  South — says  it  is  incapable  of  "  regeneration," 
but  proposes  to  re-people  it  from  the  North  by  "  genera- 
tion."— See  Times. 

He  is  the  friend  of  that  inhuman  monster,  General 
Butler.  He  is  the  friend  of  that  so-called  Gospel 
Preacher,  Cheever,  who  said  in  one  of  his  sermons : 
"  Fight  against  the  South  till  Hell  freezes,  and  then  con- 
tinue the  battle  on  the  ice." 

He  is  the  friend  and  supporter  of  a  most  debased  Fe- 
male, who  uttered  at  a  public  meeting  in  America  the 
most  indecent  and  cruel  language  that  ever  polluted  fe- 
male lips. — See  Times. 

Men  of  Liverpool — Englishmen  ! 

What  reception  can  you  give  this  wretch  save  unmiti- 
gated disgust  and  contempt  ?  His  impudence  in  coming 
here  is  only  equalled  by  his  cruelty  and  impiety.  Should 
he,  however,  venture  to  appear,  it  behooves  all  right- 


HIS   VISIT  TO    ENGLAND    IN    1863.  197 

minded  men  to  render  as  futile  as  the  first  this  second 
attempt  to  get  up  a  public  demonstration  in  favor  of  the 
North,  which  is  now  waging  war  against  the  South  with 
a  vindictive  and  revengeful  cruelty  unparalleled  in  the 
history  of  any  Christian  land. 

These  placards  and  the  agitation  against  the  North 
that  had  been  carefully  fostered  had  the  effect  that  had 
been  desired.  The  highest  state  of  excitement  prevailed ; 
but  this  had  no  deterrent  effect  on  the  man  against  whom 
they  were  aimed.  So  great  was  the  excitement  that  it 
is  said  that  a  number  of  men  attended  the  meeting  with 
weapons,  which  they  were  only  deterred  from  using  by 
an  equal  show  of  weapons  on  the  part  of  certain  of  Mr. 
Beecher's  supporters.  For  a  time  all  was  confusion  and 
turmoil,  and  it  was  over  an  hour  and  a  half  before  he 
could  obtain  control  of  the  audience.  After  that  he  had 
it  all  his  own  way ;  but  he  had  been  compelled  to  stretch 
his  voice  to  its  utmost  strength,  and  it  was  some  time 
before  he  recovered  the  perfect  use  of  it.  Into  this  meet- 
ing he  threw  all  his  force,  and  one  gentleman  who  was 
present  said  he  had  never  heard  anything  like  it  since 
the  days  of  Daniel  O'Connell,  and  that  he  thought  not 
one  of  O'Connell's  best  things  equalled  Mr.  Beecher's 
effort  on  that  occasion. 

When  Mr.  Beecher  returned  to  London  he  found  him- 
self famous.  He  had  been  attacked  and  fully  reported 


198      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

in  the  papers,  and  had  been  the  talk  of  the  clubs.  He 
had  become  the  fashion.  He  used  to  tell  an  amusing 
story  of  his  hotel  experiences  in  London.  He  put  up  at 
the  "  Golden  Cross  "  hotel  when  he  first  went  there,  and 
they  gave  him  a  little  back  room  at  the  top  of  the  house. 
On  his  return  from  the  Continent  he  was  received  with 
a  little  more  politeness,  and  was  favored  with  a  front 
room  on  the  third  story.  On  the  third  visit  after  his  tri- 
umphant conquests  in  Manchester,  Glasgow,  and  Liver- 
pool he  was  received  with  all  deference  by  the  landlord 
and  his  assistants,  and  was  given  the  best  suite  of  rooms 
in  the  house.  Here  trouble  awaited  him.  He  had  had 
a  most  successful  career  in  spite  of  tremendous  difficul- 
ties, but  the  strain  on  his  voice  had  been  too  great,  and 
on  his  arrival  he  had  to  take  to  his  bed.  He  had  yet  his 
most  important  work  to  perform — to  address  the  meeting 
at  Exeter  Hall — and  his  voice  had  failed  him.  He  com- 
mitted himself  in  this  difficulty  to  the  hands  of  God,  on 
whom  he  had  so  often  depended.  He  said,  "  Lord,  thou 
knowest  this.  Let  it  be  as  thou  wilt." 

Next  morning  when  he  awoke  he  was  almost  afraid  to 
speak.  He  felt  well  and  strong,  but  his  voice,  though 
improved,  was  still  husky.  However,  he  gathered  him- 
self together  for  a  last  mighty  effort,  and  before  the  day 
was  over  all  London  had  felt  the  presence  of  the  mighty 
man  that  was  in  their  midst.  Exeter  Hall  was  packed 
inside  and  outside,  and  even  the  adjoining  streets  were 


HIS   VISIT  TO   ENGLAND   IN    1863.  199 

thronged  with  a  surging  mass  of  humanity  endeavoring, 
even  if  they  could  not  enter  the  hall,  to  approach  as  close 
to  the  building  as  they  possibly  could.  In  order  to  get 
into  the  hall  himself  Mr.  Beecher  had  to  accept  the  aid 
of  the  police. 

When  he  rose  to  speak  he  was  greeted  with  the  most 
vociferous  cheering.  He  began  by  asking  forbearance  on 
account  of  his  hoarseness.  "  I  expect  to  be  hoarse,"  he 
said,  "  and  I  am  willing  to  be  hoarse,  if  I  can  in  any  way 
assist  to  bring  the  mother  and  daughter  heart  to  heart 
and  hand  to  hand  together."  This  was  the  signal  for  a 
renewed  outburst  of  cheering.  He  then  proceeded  to 
review  in  brief  his  course  in  Great  Britain.  He  said  that 
at  Manchester  he  had  attempted  to  give  a  history  of  the 
external  political  movement  for  fifty  years  before,  so  far 
as  it  was  necessary  to  illustrate  the  fact  that  the  Ameri- 
can Civil  War  was  only  an  overt  and  warlike  form  of  a 
contest  between  liberty  and  slavery  that  had  been  going 
on  politically  for  half  a  century.  At  Glasgow  he  had 
undertaken  to  show  the'  condition  of  work  or  labor  ne- 
cessitated by  any  profitable  system  of  slavery,  demon- 
strating that  it  brought  labor  into  contempt,  affixing  to 
it  the  badge  of  degradation,  and  that  a  struggle  to  extend 
servile  labor  across  the  American  continent  interested 
every  free  working-man  on  the  globe. 

His  sincere  belief  was  that  the  Southern  cause  was  the 
natural  enemy  of  free  labor  and  the  laborer  all  the  world 


200      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

over.  In  Edinburgh  he  had  endeavored  to  sketch  how, 
out  of  separate  colonies  and  States  intensely  jealous  of 
their  individual  sovereignty  there  had  grown  up  and  had 
been  finally  established  a  nation,  and  how  in  the  nation 
of  the  United  States  two  distinct  and  antagonistic  systems 
had  been  developed,  and  struggled  for  the  guidance  of 
the  national  policy,  which  struggle  had  at  length  passed 
and  the  North  gained  the  control.  Thereupon  the  South 
had  abandoned  the  Union  simply  and  solely  because  the 
Government  was  in  future  to  be  administered  by  men 
who  would  give  their  whole  influence  to  freedom.  In 
Liverpool  he  had  labored  under  difficulties  to  show  that 
slavery  in  the  long-run  was  as  hostile  to  commerce  and 
to  manufacturers  all  the  world  over  as  it  was  to  free  in- 
terests in  human  society ;  that  a  slave  nation  must  be  a 
poor  customer,  buying  the  poorest  and  fewest  goods,  and 
the  least  profitable  to  the  producers  ;  that  it  was  the  in- 
terest of  every  manufacturing  country  to  promote  free- 
dom, intelligence,  and  wealth  among  all  nations ;  that  the 
attempt  to  cover  the  fairest  portion  of  the  earth  with  a 
slave  population  that  bought  next  to  nothing  ought  to 
array  against  it  every  true  political  economist  and  every 
thoughtful  and  far-seeing  manufacturer,  as  tending  to 
strike  at  the  vital  want  of  commerce — which  was  not 
cotton,  but  rich  customers. 

He  had  endeavored  to  enlist  against    this  flagitious 
wickedness  and  the  great  civil  war  which  it  had  kindled 


HIS   VISIT   TO   ENGLAND   IN    1863.  2OI 

the  judgment,  conscience,  and  interests  of  the  British 
people,  and  he  would  do  his  best  to  leave  no  vestige  of 
doubt  that  slavery  had  been  the  cause — the  only  cause — 
the  whole  cause — of  the  war.  He  had  already  tried  to 
show  that  sympathy  for  the  South,  however  covered  by 
excuses  or  softened  by  sophistry,  was  simply  sympathy 
with  an  audacious  attempt  to  build  up  a  slave  empire 
pure  and  simple.  He  had  tried  to  show  that  the  North 
were  contending  for  the  preservation  of  their  Govern- 
ment and  their  own  territory,  and  those  popular  institu- 
tions on  which  the  well-being  of  the  nation  depended. 

He  had  so  far,  he  said,  spoken  to  the  English  from  an 
English  point  of  view,  but  he  was  now  going  to  ask  them 
to  look  at  the  struggle  from  an  American  point  of  view, 
and  in  its  moral  aspects.  There  had  been  some  disagree- 
ment of  feeling  between  America  and  Great  Britain.  He 
did  not  want  to  argue  the  question  which  was  right  and 
which  was  wrong,  but  if  some  kind  neighbor  would  per- 
suade two  people  that  were  at  disagreement  to  consider 
each  other's  position  and  circumstances,  it  might  not  lead 
either  to  adopting  the  other's  judgment,  but  it  might  lead 
them  to  say  of  each  other,  "  I  think  he  is  honest  and 
means  well,  even  if  he  be  mistaken."  This  was  greeted 
with  loud  cheering. 

"  You  may  not,"  he  went  on,  "  thus  get  a  settlement  of 
the  difficulty,  but  you  will  get  a  settlement  of  the  quarrel. 
I  merely  ask  you  to  put  yourselves  in  our  track  for  one 
9 


2O2      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

hour,  and  look  at  the  objects  as  we  look  at  them — after 
that,  form  your  judgment  as  you  please." 

His  audience  had  been  kindly  disposed  from  the  first, 
and  his  opening  words,  clearly  and  distinctly  enunciated, 
notwithstanding  his  hoarseness,  threw  everyone  into  the 
proper  frame  of  mind  to  give  him  a  fair  and  dispassionate 
hearing.  He  then  went  on  to  narrate  the  history  of  the 
conflict  from  its  earliest  stages.  He  said  the  first  issue 
between  the  North  and  South  was  on  purely  moral 
grounds.  It  was  a  conflict  simply  of  opinion  and  of 
truths  by  argument,  and  by  appeal  to  the  moral  sense  it 
was  sought  to  persuade  the  slaveholder  to  adopt  some 
plan  of  emancipation.  The  South  seemed  to  apologize 
for  slavery  rather  than  defend  it  against  argument.  It 
was  said  :  "  The  evil  is  upon  us  ;  we  cannot  help  it.  We 
are  sullied,  but  it  is  a  misfortune  rather  than  a  fault.  It 
is  not  right  for  the  North  to  meddle  with  that  which  is 
made  worse  by  being  meddled  with,  even  by  argument  or 
appeal."  That  was  the  earlier  portion  of  the  conflict. 

The  next  stage  was  purely  political.  The  South  was 
attempting  to  extend  their  slave  system  into  the  terri- 
tories, and  to  prevent  free  States  from  covering  the  conti- 
nent by  bringing  into  the  Union  a  slave  State  for  every 
free  State.  It  was  also  the  design  and  endeavor  of  the 
South  not  simply  to  hold  and  employ  the  enormous  power 
and  influence  of  the  Central  Executive,  but  also  to  ingraft 
into  the  whole  Federal  Government  a  slave  State  policy. 


HIS   VISIT   TO   ENGLAND   IN    1863.  2O3 

They  meant  to  fill  all  offices  at  home  and  abroad  with  men 
loyal  to  slavery — to  shut  up  the  road  to  political  prefer- 
ment against  men  who  had  aspirations  for  freedom,  and 
to  corrupt  the  young  and  ambitious  by  obliging  them  to 
swear  fealty  to  slavery  as  the  condition  of  success. 

The  South  had  pursued  a  uniform  system  of  bribing 
and  corrupting  ambitious  men  of  Northern  consciences. 
A  far  more  dangerous  part  of  its  policy  was  to  change  the 
Constitution,  not  overtly,  not  by  external  aggression — 
worse,  to  fill  the  courts  with  Southern  judges  until,  first 
by  laws  of  Congress  passed  through  Southern  influence, 
secondly  by  the  construction  and  adjudication  of  the 
courts,  the  Constitution  having  become  more  and  more 
tied  up  to  Southern  principles,  the  North  would  have  to 
submit  to  slavery,  or  else  to  oppose  it  by  violating  the 
law  and  Constitution  as  construed  by  servile  judges. 
They  were,  in  short,  little  by  little,  injecting  the  laws, 
Constitution,  and  policy  of  the  country  with  the  poison 
and  blood  of  slavery.  Until  the  Civil  War  the  North, 
although  it  had  rid  itself  of  slavery,  was  unable  to  touch 
slavery  directly. 

The  North  could  only  contend  against  slave  policy — 
not  directly  against  slavery,  and  for  this  reason  :  slavery 
was  not  the  creature  of  national  law,  and  therefore  not 
subject  to  national  jurisprudence,  but  of  State  law,  and 
subject  only  to  State  jurisdiction.  A  direct  act  on  the 
part  of  the  North  to  abolish  slavery  would  have  been 


204      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

revolutionary.  It  would  have  been  a  violation  of  the 
fundamental  principle  of  State  independence.  Each 
State,  in  respect  to  those  rights  and  institutions  that  were 
local  and  peculiar  to  it,  had  undivided  sovereignty  over 
its  own  affairs  ;  but  all  powers,  such  as  taxes,  wars, 
treaties  of  peace,  which  belonged  to  one  State  and  were 
common  to  all  States,  went  into  the  General  Government. 
The  General  Government  never  had  the  power — the 
power  was  never  delegated  to  it — to  meddle  with  the  in- 
terior and  domestic  economy  of  the  States,  and  it  never 
could  be  done. 

It  was  only  that  part  of  slavery  which  escaped  from  the 
State  jurisdiction,  and  which  entered  into  the  national 
sphere,  which  formed  the  subject  of  controversy.  The 
Constitution  of  the  States  could  not  justly  be  touched, 
but  only  the  policy  of  the  National  Government  that 
came  out  beyond  the  State  and  appeared  in  Congress  and 
in  the  territories.  The  great  conflict  between  the  South 
and  the  North  until  the  war  began  was,  which  should  con- 
trol the  Federal  or  Central  Government  and  the  territories. 
It  was  not  "  Emancipation  "  or  "  No  Emancipation  ;  " 
Government  had  no  business  with  that  question.  Before 
the  war,  the  only  thing  on  which  politically  the  free 
people  of  the  North  and  South  took  their  respective  sides 
was,  "  Shall  the  National  policy  be  free  or  slave  ?  "  Dur- 
ing a  period  of  eighty  years  the  North  had  held  to  her 
word,  and  with  scrupulous  honor  had  respected  legal 


HIS  VISIT  TO   ENGLAND   IN    1863.  205 

rights,  even  when  they  were  merely  civil  and  not  .moral 
rights. 

The  fidelity  of  the  North  to  the  great  doctrine  of 
State  rights,  which  was  born  of  her — her  forbearance  un- 
der wrong,  insult,  and  provocation — her  conscientious 
and  honorable  refusal  to  meddle  with  the  evil  which  she 
hated,  and  which  she  saw  to  be  aiming  at  the  life  of 
Government,  and  at  her  own  life — her  determination  to 
hold  fast  pact  and  Constitution,  and  to  gain  her  victories 
by  giving  the  people  a  new  National  policy — will  yet  be 
deemed  worthy  of  something  better  than  a  contemptuous 
sneer  or  the  allegation  of  an  "  enormous  national  vanity." 

How,  then,  did  the  North  pass  from  a  conflict  with  the 
South  and  a  slave  policy  to  a  direct  attack  upon  the  in- 
stitutions of  slavery  ?  Because  they  beleaguered  the 
National  Government  and  the  national  life  with  the  in- 
stitution of  slavery — obliged  a  sworn  President  who  was 
put  under  oath  not  to  invade  that  institution  to  take 
his  choice  between  the  safety  and  life  of  the  Government 
itself  and  the  slavery  by  which  it  was  beleaguered.  As 
the  fundamental  right  of  individual  self-defence  could 
not  be  withdrawn  without  immorality,  so  the  first  ele- 
ment of  national  life  was  to  defend  life,  and  when  a  na- 
tion was  assaulted  it  was  a  right  and  duty,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  self-defence,  to  destroy  the  enemy  by  which 
otherwise  it  would  be  destroyed.  When  the  South 
threw  down  the  gauntlet  of  war  and  said  that  by  it  slav- 


206      LIFE   AND   WORK    OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ery  was  to  be  adjudicated,  the  North  could  do  nothing 
else  than  take  up  the  challenge. 

In  this  manner  did  Mr.  Beecher  continue,  carefully  ex- 
plaining and  throwing  light  as  he  went  along,  making 
point  after  point  in  his  favor  with  telling  effect,  to  which 
the  continued  cheering  which  greeted  almost  his  every 
sentence  bore  unmistakable  evidence.  He  had  oppor- 
tunity in  the  course  of  his  speech  to  retaliate  on  the 
press,  particularly  the  Times  and  the  Daily  Telegraph, 
for  some  of  the  attacks  they  had  made  on  him  after  his 
Manchester  and  Glasgow  speeches,  and  when  he  said  he 
would  have  a  different  stoiy  to  tell  when  he  got  back  to 
America  of  the  feeling  of  England  to  that  which  his 
countrymen  had  been  able  to  gather  from  the  English 
newspapers,  the  assembly  rose  en  masse  and  hats  and 
handkerchiefs  were  waved  enthusiastically  amid  loud 
cheering.  After  speaking  for  over  two  hours,  he  had  to 
ask  his  audience  to  permit  him  to  stop,  pleading  exhaust- 
ion. 

Professor  Newman  then  rose  and  moved  the  following 
resolution  : 

"Resolved,  That  this  meeting  presents  its  most  cor- 
dial thanks  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  for  the 
admirable  address  which  he  has  delivered  this  even- 
ing, and  expresses  its  hearty  sympathy  with  his  rep- 
robation of  the  slaveholders'  rebellion,  his  vindication 
of  the  rights  of  a  free  government,  and  his  aspirations 


HIS  VISIT  TO   ENGLAND   IN    1863.  2O/ 

for  peace  and  friendship  between  the  English  people  and 
their  American  brethren ;  and  as  this  meeting  recognized 
in  Mr.  Beecher  one  of  the  early  pioneers  of  negro  emanci- 
pation, as  well  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  success- 
ful of  the  champions  of  that  great  cause,  it  rejoices  in  this 
opportunity  of  congratulating  him  on  the  triumphs  with 
which  the  labors  of  himself  and  his  associates  have  been 
crowned  in  the  anti-slavery  policy  of  President  Lincoln 
and  his  cabinet." 

Loud  cheers  greeted  the  reading  of  this  motion,  which 
was  unanimously  carried. 

That  he  won  his  oratorical  battles  in  every  place  where 
he  spoke,  even  his  enemies  declared.  Every  word  he 
uttered  was  reported  and  printed.  He  displayed  himself 
in  all  his  best  array.  He  made  the  people  listen  to  his 

• 

sober  arguments,  laugh  at  his  wit,  and  weep  when  he 
mourned.  The  man  who  had  hitherto  been  known  as 
"  Ward  Beecher,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe,"  now 
had  his  own  firm  foundation.  Social  attentions  were 
showered  on  him,  and  he  became  the  rage ;  but  the  same 
self-respect  that  had  sustained  him  when  he  was  literally 
ignored  before  now  kept  him  from  the  abasement  of 
recognizing  aught  that  did  not  benefit  the  cause  he 
served. 

The  effect  of  Mr.  Beecher's  speeches  was  to  entirely 
change  the  moral  sentiment  of  Great  Britain  toward  the 
North,  and,  both  in  themselves  and  in  their  results,  it  is 


208      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

doubtful  whether  any  greater  oratorical  triumph  has  evet 
been  recorded.  Not  long  after  his  London  address, 
about  the  middle  of  November,  he  took  passage  from 
Liverpool,  and  after  a  tedious  passage  of  fifteen  days 
arrived  in  his  native  land,  where  the  news  of  his  good 
work  had  long  preceded  him. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HIS  CAREER  IN  POLITICS. 

His  Temperament  leads  to  Political  Affiliation. — One  of  the  Early 
Abolitionists.— Clay. — Calhoun. —  Henry  B.  Stanton.  —  The  Pulpit 
and  Slavery. — Seward. — Greeley. — Buchanan. — The  Drift  of  Senti- 
ment Previous  to  the  War. — His  Views  at  the  Time. — The  Fremont 
Campaign. — The  "  Political  Parson." — He  advocates  Lincoln. — Belief 
that  His  Election  would  Precipitate  War. — Visit  to  England. — His 
Valuable  Service  as  a  Defender  of  the  Union  in  England. — Lincoln's 
Re-election. — After  the  War. — Jefferson  Davis. — President  Johnson. 
—General  Grant.— A  Southern  Tour.  — "  The  North  and  South."— 
General  Fitzhugh  Lee. — He  becomes  a  "Mugwump." — Supporting 
Cleveland. — Old  Ties  Sundered. — Civil  Service  Reform. — Beecher 
and  Curtis  interview  the  President. — Democratic  Resolutions. 

MR.  BEECHER'S  sympathetic  temperament  naturally 
made  him  a  partisan,  and  led  him  into  political  discus- 
sion. His  three  anti-slavery  sermons  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  at  a  time 
when  the  pulpit  never  referred  to  the  questions  of  the 
day,  caused  him  to  be  ranked  among  the  leading  Aboli- 
tionists. The  subject  was  then  unpopular  excepting 
with  affiliating  coteries  or  organizations,  and  was  re- 
garded as  a  political  question  rather  than  a  humane  proj- 
ect. Mr.  Beecher  took  the  bold  ground  that  slavery  was 


210      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

in  defiance  of  the  laws  of  God,  and  consequently  a 
proper  theme  for  the  pulpit.  Speaking  of  this  period  of 
life,  he  gave  to  a  friend  an  interesting  review  of  the  con- 
temporaneous public  men  as  follows  : 

"  When  I  was  in  Cincinnati  Charles  Hammond  was  the 
editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette^  one  of  the  ablest  men  in 
the  West,  and  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  was  by  all  odds — 
head  and  shoulder — the  leading  Whig  newspaper.  Henry 
Clay  used,  before  any  important  movement,  to  consult 
with  Charles  Hammond." 

"  Did  you  ever  meet  Henry  Clay  and  hear  him 
speak  ? " 

"  Yes.  I  thought  he  was  the  dullest  old  fellow  I  ever 
heard.  It  was  at  a  barbecue  in  Indianapolis.  He  was 
jaded  and  tired.  He  was  not  wound  up,  and  had  nobody 
to  stick  a  pin  in  him." 

"  Do  you  think  he  was  an  eloquent  man  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  if  you  take  in  his  personal  magnetism  and  the 
adaptation  of  himself  to  the  currents  of  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings that  were  existing.  Henry  Clay  was  not  a  man 
that  out  of  his  own  day  was  or  ever  will  be  so  great  as 
he  was  in  his  own  age." 

"  He  was  not  as  great  a  man  as  Webster  ?  " 

"  No,  nor  as  Calhoun,  but  a  man  that  made  passionate 
friends,  and  a  natural  born  leader  of  men." 

"  Magnetic  ?  " 

"  To  the  last  degree,  and  he  had  all  the  intuitions  and 


HIS   CAREER   IN   POLITICS.  211 

that  union  of  affectionate  blandishment  and  indignation 
and  threat  to  him.  He  could  strike  or  he  could  caress, 
and  with  either  blows  or  caresses  was  very  powerful." 

"  You  adhered  to  your  anti-slavery  sentiment  in  the 
West  ?  " 

"  Yes,  although  I  saw  that  to  do  so  was  exceedingly  un- 
popular in  Cincinnati — that  it  would  alienate  everybody 
that  I  knew  there — and  that,  among  other  reasons,  con- 
firmed me  in  my  tendencies,  because  I  have  always  had 
a  kind  of  irresistible  impulse  to  defend  the  weak,  espe- 
cially when  I  saw  they  were  trodden  down  by  men  of  in- 
fluence and  power ;  to  throw  myself  into  the  rescue  of  the 
wronged  was  as  strong  in  me  as  life  itself.  So,  when  the 
mob  rose  in  Cincinnati  and  destroyed  Dr.  Bailey's  news- 
paper— Bailey  was  afterward  editor  of  the  New  Era  in 
Washington,  in  which  Mrs.  Stowe's  '  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin ' 
appeared — when  the  mob  rose  and  broke  in  and  scattered 
his  type,  dragged  his  press  down  the  main  street  and 
threw  it  into  the  Ohio  River,  and  once  again  the  riotous 
spirit  foamed  over  and  they  threatened  to  shoot  down 
the  colored  people  in  Cincinnati,  and  had  got  to  that 
point  that  the  mayor  called  for  special  policemen  to  pro- 
tect the  city  and  the  negro  quarters,  I  was  sworn  in 
as  a  special  policeman,  and  patrolled  the  streets  for  two 
nights  armed  to  the  teeth  to  defend  the  negroes.  In  the 
absence  of  its  editor,  who  had  gone  to  the  General  As- 
sembly in  Philadelphia,  I  had  taken  the  Cincinnati 


212      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Journal,  the  Presbyterian  religious  new  school  paper,  and 
was  editing  it.  In  this  paper  I  attacked  this  mob  spirit, 
and  with  such  a  vehemence  that  Charles  Hammond  put 
the  whole  article  into  the  Cincinnati  Gazette.  That  was 
all  along  the  same  line  of  anti-slavery  impulse.  I  then 
went  to  Lawrenceburg,  twenty  miles  below  Cincinnati. 
There  was  a  Presbyterian  Church  there  that  would  seat 
one  hundred  and  fifty  people.  There  were  twenty  mem- 
bers, one  man  and  the  rest  women.  With  the  exception 
of  two,  everyone  was  dependent  for  her  livelihood  on  her 
industry." 

"  What  was  your  salary  there  ?  " 

"  Four  hundred  dollars.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars was  paid  by  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society, 
and  the  balance  was  raised  by  people  in  my  church." 

"  That  was  the  custom  for  this  society  to  aid  all  feeble 
churches  in  the  West  ?  " 

"  All  feeble  churches  would  receive  a  portion  of  their 
salary  in  that  way.  The  society  was  organized  for  that 
purpose.  I  do  not  believe  there  were  in  my  Synod  ten 
ministers  that  were  not  more  or  less  assisted  by  that  so- 
ciety, and  now  all  through  the  West  it  is  the  same  thing 
to-day,  away  to  the  Pacific  Ocean." 

"  The  knot  of  recognized  Abolitionists  in  those  days  was 
so  very  small — Mr.  Tappan,  Mr.  Garrison,  and  Mr.  Wen- 
dell Phillips — that  I  suppose  all  of  necessity  were  known 
to  you  ?  " 


HIS   CAREER   IN   POLITICS.  213 

"They  were  East,  and  I  went  back  into  Indiana  as 
a  missionary,  and  was  working  among  the  common 
people." 

"  And  you  were  on  the  field  where  the  fight  had  to 
come  sooner  or  later  ?  " 

"  I  was,  and  it  may  interest  you  to  know  that  among 
the  lecturers  was  Henry  B.  Stanton,  who  had  studied 
theology  under  my  father.  After  staying  for  two  years 
and  a  little  over  at  Lawrenceburg  I  was  called  to  Indian- 
apolis. This  was  at  the  time  when  the  division  took 
place.  The  Presbyterian  Church  split  on  the  rock  of 
slavery.  Theology  was  the  mere  occasion  and  pretence, 
but  the  root  of  the  matter  was  slavery.  The  South  was 
largely  new-school,  but  the  new  school  of  the  North  was 
leavened  with  the  anti-slavery  tendency  to  a  very  great 
extent,  and  the  understanding  was,  as  I  heard  my  father 
state  it,  that  the  new-school  ministers  of  the  South  said 
to  the  Princeton  men  :  '  We  will  sustain  you  as  against 
the  new  school  of  the  North  if  you  will  see  to  it  that  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  large  does  not  meddle  with  the 
question  of  slavery  in  the  South.'  It  was  a  league  :  it  was 
an  understood  thing.  It  was  carried  out.  The  Southern 
Presbyterians,  all  for  the  sake  of  slavery,  consented  to  up- 
hold the  hands  of  the  old-school  Princeton,  and  the  new 
school  of  the  North  was  split  off  from  them  and  organized 
by  themselves,  and  they  were,  especially  in  the  West,  very 
generally  anti-slavery.  I  don't  know  one  man  in  the 


214      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

Synod  of  Indiana  who  was  not  an  open  and  avowed  anti- 
slavery  man." 

"  This  was  about  when  ?  " 

"About  1840-41.  I  went  to  Indianapolis,  preaching 
in  the  upper  hall  or  room  of  a  little  brick  academy,  which 
would  not  hold  much  over  a  hundred  people,  while  the 
church  was  building.  It  is  now  owned  by  Governor  Eng- 
lish." 

"  Well,  what  then  ?  " 

"  After  a  year  we  were  directed  by  the  Synod  to  preach 
once  a  year  on  the  duties  of  the  Church  to  the  en- 
slaved." 

"  Did  you  do  it  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  waited  until  the  United  States  Federal 
Court  came  there,  with  Judge  McLean  as  the  presiding 
judge  ;  and  when  all  of  our  State  Courts,  Supreme  Court, 
and  Circuit,  were  in  session  and  the  Legislature  was  con- 
vened— so  that  all  lawyers  and  public  officers,  men  of 
every  kind,  thronged  the  city — to  announce  that  I  should 
preach  on  slavery.  In  the  morning  I  discussed  the  nature 
of  Hebrew  slavery  and  the  way  in  which  it  ceased.  In 
the  afternoon  I  preached  on  American  slavery  and  the 
duty  of  the  American  church  on  that  subject.  Well, 
you  may  depend  it  was  a  bomb  thrown,  and  they  went 
streaming  back  to  the  hotel,  and  when  they  sat  down  to 
dinner  someone  said :  '  Judge  McLean,  what  do  you  think 
of  that  ? '  '  Well,'  said  he,  '  I  think  if  every  minister  in 


HIS   CAREER   IN   POLITICS. 


the  United  States  would  be  as  faithful  it  would  be  a 
great  advance  in  settling  this  question.'  Well,  that  set- 
tled it.  It  gave  the  cue,  and  the  lawyers,  they,  on  the 
whole,  sympathized  too,  and  the  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature, and  the  consequence  was  that  I  had  preached  two 
flaming  sermons  with  no  reaction  by  a  judicious  adapta- 
tion to  time  and  circumstance.  I  suppose  that  was  the 
first  anti-slavery  sermon  that  was  ever  preached  in  the 
capital  of  the  State  of  Indiana." 

"  To  that  circumstance  you  probably  owe  the  reputa- 
tion which  preceded  you  to  New  York  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

Mr.  Beecher  continued  his  anti-slavery  crusade  in 
Plymouth  Church  more  vigorously  than  ever,  but  did 
not  take  any  prominent  part  in  politics  until  the  Fre- 
mont presidential  campaign  in  1856,  when  he  boldly 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  Pathfinder.  Says  an  account  : 

"  Finally,  after  years  of  agitation,  from  the  labors  of 
the  little  coterie  was  born  the  Republican  Party.  Mr. 
Beecher  was  one  of  its  few  fathers,  and  tended  it  carefully 
from  its  birth.  When  John  C.  Fremont  was  nominated 
as  presidential  candidate  he  took  great  interest  in  the 
campaign  and  addressed  great  audiences  in  Massachu- 
setts, New  York,  and  Pennsylvania.  He  was  then  forty- 
three  years  old,  and  in  perfect  health.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  several  months  in  1849,  when  he  was  so  seriously 
ill  as  to  prevent  his  preaching  from  March  until  Septem- 


216      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD    BEECHER. 

her,  and  three  months  in  1850,  when  he  made  a  convales- 
cing trip  to  Europe,  he  had  not  been  absent  a  Sunday 
from  his  pulpit.  The  national  peril  in  1856  seemed  so 
great  that  he  was  induced  by  his  political  friends  to 
accept  a  leave  of  absence  from  his  church  and  travel 
through  the  Middle  and  Western  States  on  a  kind  of 
oratorical  pilgrimage.  Wherever  he  went  his  fame  pre- 
ceded him,  and  in  that  memorable  fight  he  added  laurels 
of  imperishable  renown  to  those  already  won. 

"  The  defeat  of  Fremont,  by  Mr.  Beecher  and  many 
others,  believed  to  be  the  work  of  Pennsylvania  tricksters, 
consolidated  the  Republican  Party,  intensified  the  grow- 
ing hatred  of  the  sections,  and  afforded  the  extremists 
on  both  sides  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  a  never-ending 
theme  of  discussion.  Plymouth  pulpit  had  become  a 
national  institution.  The  streets  of  Brooklyn  leading 
from  the  ferries  were  busy  with  processions  of  men  from 
New  York  looking  for  '  Beecher.'  The  policemen  never 
waited  for  a  stranger  to  conclude  his  question,  but  invari- 
ably interrupted  him  and  said :  '  Follow  the  crowd.' 
That  hundreds  heard  Mr.  Beecher  preach  from  Sunday 
to  Sunday  who  hated  him  and  hi?  doctrines  is  undoubt- 
edly the  fact.  Some  of  the  '  best  people '  in  the  city 
refused  to  speak  to  him,  and  all  over  the  land  he  was 
vilified  and  abused.  All  this  made  no  impression  on  him. 
Some  of  his  people  left  his  ministry,  but  where  one  went 
twenty  new  ones  came.  He  demanded  a  free  platform 


HIS   CAREER   IN   POLITICS.  2I/ 

for  himself,  and  accorded  it  to  others.  His  people  did 
not  servilely  believe  anything  because  he  said  it,  for  they 
often  maintained  opinions  different  from  his  to  the  end." 

Indulging  in  political  reminiscences  one  day  with  a 
friend,  Mr.  Beecher,  in  answer  to  a  question  as  to  whom  he 
regarded  as  the  most  influential  leaders  of  public  senti- 
ment, leading  the  Abolitionists  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
better  grade  of  Whigs  on  the  other,  the  point  of  focus  as 
Republicans,  said  : 

"  Well,  I  think  Seward  on  the  whole.  Greeley  was 
off  and  on.  Horace  Greeley  was  one  of  the  ablest  ad- 
vocates in  public  affairs.  When  wise  counsel  had  laid 
down  a  good  line,  a  good  platform,  and  Mr.  Greeley 
mounted  it  in  defence,  there  was  no  man  so  able  as  he, 
but  when  the  work  was  not  the  defence  of  an  agreed-upon 
platform,  but  the  formation  of  it,  he  was  a  very  unwise 
and  uncertain  counsellor.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  is 
worth  my  while  to  tell  the  history  of  one  thing  that  oc- 
curred about  the  time  of  the  war.  There  was  an  assem- 
bly in  an  hotel  in  New  York.  There  were  fifty  Southern 
officers  in  our  army  convened  in  an  hotel  in  New  York 
after  secession  was  in  full  swing,  to  discuss  what  their 
duties  as  officers  should  be,  and  the  point  was  this  :  If 
the  South  is  to  be  organized  into  another  government 
it  is  perfectly  honorable  for  us  to  change  our  allegiance 
from  the  Government  of  the  North  to  the  Government 
of  the  South,  but  if  that  is  not  to  be  accepted  or  toler- 


2l8      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ated,  then  we  are  bound  by  our  oath  of  allegiance  to  this 
Government,  which  has  educated  us,  not  to  go  over  to 
the  Southern  army.  On  this  morning  appeared  in  the 
Tribune  that  wonderful  declaration,  '  Let  the  South  go,' 
by  Greeley  !  These  gentlemen  said  :  '  All  the  South  are 
agreed  that  there  is  to  be  this  new  government.  The 
Democratic  party  of  the  North,  we  know,  assents  to  it, 
and  the  only  question  remaining  is,  What  are  the  anti- 
slavery  men  going  to  do  ?  '  And  on  that  morning  came 
out  that  declaration  of  Greeley,  who  was  regarded  wrong- 
fully as  being  the  leader  of  the  great  anti-slavery  move- 
ment, and  they  said,  '  That  settles  it,'  and  in  less  than 
twenty-four  hours  every  mother's  son  of  them  but  one 
had  left  the  North  and  gone  pell-mell  down  South  and 
offered  his  sword  to  the  Confederates,  because  the 
Southern  management  would  give  these  officers  their 
rank  in  the  order  of  their  application,  and  it  was  impor- 
tant that  they  should  get  in  first  and  not  get  near  the  tail. 
The  last  support,  therefore,  was  kicked  from  under  the 
vessel  by  a  careless  foot." 

"  Do  you  share  the  belief  that  was  quite  general  at  the 
time  that  Fremont  carried  Pennsylvania?" 

"  I  do." 

"  Do  you  believe  that  he  was  elected  President  ?" 

"  I  do." 

"  Do  you  believe  that  his  inauguration  as  President 
would  have  averted  a  civil  war  ?  " 


HIS   CAREER  IN   POLITICS.  219 

"  No." 

"  Did  you  know  President  Buchanan  ?  " 

"  No,  nothing  more  than  just  by  sight." 

"  Do  you  believe  him  to  have  been  a  square  man  ?" 

"  I  believe  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  honest  inten- 
tions, but  utterly  unfit  for  the  times  which  found  him. 
He  had  neither  courage  nor  any  commanding  discre- 
tion." 

"  How  do  you  regard  Douglas  ?  " 

"  I  regard  Douglas  as  a  very  able  man  indeed,  but  a 
dangerous  man,  because  I  do  not  think  that  he  acted  on 
great  lines,  but  rather  on  the  inner  lines  of  political  ex- 
pediency." 

"  Do  you  think  he  was  a  thoroughly  loyal  man  ?" 

"  I  think  he  was  a  thoroughly  loyal  man." 

"  Do  you  think  the  election  of  President  Lincoln  pre- 
cipitated the  rebellion  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Do  you  think  that  his  death  and  its  manner,  and  at 
the  time,  was  a  great  thing  for  him  in  history?" 

"  Yes,  sir ;  I  think  that  his  coffin  was  more  than  the 
Presidential  chair.  It  certainly  gave  to  the  whole  of  his 
career  the  influence  of  a  kind  of  political  saintship." 

"  Do  you  believe  that  he  would  have  carried  out  a 
different  policy  from  that  of  Johnson  ?  " 

"  I  know  that  at  the  time  that  things  were  drawing  to 
a  consummation  he  had  in  an  inchoate  form  the  very 


220      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

policy  that  Johnson  undertook  to  carry  out  under  a 
change  of  circumstances.  I  know  it,  because  the  Cleve- 
land letter  that  I  wrote  was  the  result  of  conferences 
with  Governor  Andrew  and  President  Lincoln,  just  pre- 
ceding Lincoln's  death,  as  to  what  were  to  be  the  next 
coming  steps  after  the  breaking  down  of  the  rebellion, 
and  at  that  time,  under  the  circumstances,  it  seems  to  me 
that  they  had,  on  the  whole,  very  wise  views.  It  may 
be  said  almost  in  a  sentence  what  their  policy  was.  It 
was  to  say  to  the  leading  public  men  of  the  South : 
'  Gentlemen,  you  took  your  section  out  of  the  Union ; 
you  must  bring  it  back.  We  hold  you  responsible. 
We  will  give  you  all  the  power  necessary  to  do  it. 
Slavery  is  gone,  and  as  you  went  out  with  those  men 
who  have  been  defeated,  now  you  must  come  back  and 
we  will  trust  you.'  " 

"  Whom  did  you  regard  as  the  significant  men  in  our 
war — the  political  so-called  generals ;  that  is,  men  like 
Butler,  whose  administrative  qualities  were  called  into 
use,  or  men  like  Grant,  Sheridan,  etc.  ?  " 

"  The  West  Point  men  were  the  ablest  men  and  the 
most  efficient  men  by  all  odds.  With  one  or  two  ex- 
ceptions only  were  men  who  became  generals  from  civil 
life  of  any  great  noticeable  success.  Terry  was  and  has 
remained  so,  a  very  able  department  commander,  re- 
spected by  all  the  army.  Butler  was  not  a  military  man. 
Every  military  element  in  him  failed." 


HIS   CAREER   IN   POLITICS.  221 

"What  do  you  think  of  him  as  an  administrator  ?" 
"  Under  the   circumstances,  as   an   administrator   he 
was  surpassing.     You  could  not  have  got  a  better  man 
for  New  Orleans.     He  was  in  his  very  element,  in  the 
place  where  his  conscience  worked  in  the  direction  of 
patriotism  with  remarkable  shrewdness  and  success." 
"  Did  you  work  for  Grant  ?  " 
"  First,  middle,  and  last." 

"  You  regarded  him  as  a  favorite  with  the  people  ?" 
"  I  am  not  in  a  situation  to  determine  that.     I  only 
know   that  when  his  name  was  mentioned  in  any  large 
audience  where  I  was  present  he  always  carried  the  day 
with  great  enthusiasm." 

"  How  do  you  account  for  his  non-renomination  ?  " 
"  There  were  too  many  candidates  with  too  strong  a 
backing,  and  all  combined  they  defeated  him.    What  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  public  is  and  what  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  political  managers  is  are  two  different  things." 
"  You  knew  Lincoln  ?  " 
"  Very  well." 

"  In  a  sentence,  what  do  you  think  of  him  ?  " 
"  I  think  that  Lincoln  was  to  a  remarkable  degree 
both  a  statesman  and  a  politician ;  that  he  based  his 
views  of  expediency  on  great  principles,  but  that  in  exe- 
cuting expedient  objects  he  was  as  shrewd  and  keen  a 
politician  as  ever  was  in  Washington.  He  had  a  broad 
sympathy  for  human  nature,  and  he  understood  it  very 


222      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

well.  He  was  as  devoid  of  personal  ambition  and  selfish- 
ness as  any  man  of  whom  we  have  a  record  in  our  his- 
tory. He  was  a  man  who  wanted  to  do  that  which  was 
right  and  best  for  this  whole  nation,  South  and  North, 
and  was  willing  to  go  as  near  to  the  edge  of  doubtful  ex- 
pediency as  a  man  could  go  and  not  go  over  the  preci- 
pice ;  but  he  saved  himself." 

It  is  almost  needless  to  state  that  he  was  a  champion 
of  Lincoln  when  he  received  the  nomination  in  1860. 
He  believed  that  the  election  of  Lincoln  would  precipi- 
tate a  war  between  the  North  and  South  ;  of  course  it 
was  to  be  deplored,  but  he  thought  that  the  "  impend- 
ing conflict  "  had  better  come  then  than  to  a  future  gen- 
eration. He  took  a  very  active  part  in  the  campaign, 
that  resulted  as  he  had  predicted,  both  in  and  out  of  the 
pulpit.  The  democratic  papers,  notably  the  New  York 
Day-book,  the  favorite  organ  of  the  South  in  New  York 
City,  styled  him  the  "  political  parson,"  a  title  afterward 
freely  bestowed  on  the  redoubtable  "  Parson  Brownlow  " 
during  his  lecture  tour. 

As  the  war  wore  on  and  the  question  of  Presidential 
candidates  came  up,  he  was  outspoken  in  advocacy  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  re-election,  and  in  the  following  campaign 
did  much  to  secure  that  end.  When  finally  the  war  was 
happily  ended  and  peace  declared  he  was  the  first  to 
stretch  the  hand  of  reconciliation  across  the  bloody 
chasm,  and  in  an  ever-memorable  discourse  preached  the 


HIS  CAREER  IN   POLITICS.  223 

doctrine  of  brotherly  love.  The  reoccupation  of  Fort 
Sumtcr  and  the  raising  of  the  old  flag  was  made  an  occa- 
sion of  national  rejoicing,  and  Mr.  Beecher  was  chosen 
as  the  orator  of  the  day.  But  grave  and  gay  as  were  the 
festivities  of  that  hour,  they  paled  into  insignificance  be- 
fore the  return  of  the  patriotic  party  from  their  mission 
of  re-establishment  in  the  presence  of  a  bereavement  that 
sent  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  mourning  to  our  national 
capital.  The  death  of  Lincoln  stirred  the  deepest  depths 
of  Beecher's  nature,  and  wrung  from  him  a  tribute  of  love 
and  esteem  and  thoughtful  appreciation  that  will  be  for- 
ever embalmed  in  the  literature  of  the  age.  Apprehen- 
sive of  discord  at  Washington,  Mr.  Beecher  was  one  of 
the  first  to  declare  in  favor  of  universal  amnesty  and  im- 
partial suffrage.  Friends  fell  from  him  in  consequence. 
There  were  many  who  could  not  forgive  and  forget. 
They  were  willing  to  say  "  I  forgive,"  but  they  had  suf- 
fered too  much  to  pretend  to  forget.  These  frowned  on 
Mr.  Beecher  and  accused  him  of  being  a  time-server.  At 
this  he  laughed  as  heartily  as  when  the  same  people 
charged  him  with  being  foolhardy  in  his  anti-slavery 
campaign.  He  said  he  could  afford  to  wait,  and  he  did. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  allude  in  this  connection  to  his 
political  services  during  the  war,  if,  indeed,  his  patriotic 
course  can  be  considered  political.  In  his  address  at  Fort 
Sumter,  in  1865,  he  spoke  of  a  restored  union  of  the 
North  and  South,  and  predicted  resultant  prosperity, 


224      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

and  this  was  the  theme  of  his  speeches  for  several  years. 
A  friend  says : 

After  the  war  Mr.  Beecher  instantly  appealed  to  the 
people  of  the  North  to  deal  generously  and  magnani- 
mously with  the  South.  Immediately  after  the  surrender 
of  Richmond  he  expressed  in  strong  terms  his  desire  for 
a  complete  reunion  of  the  people  North  and  South,  and 
his  opposition  to  any  schemes  of  punishment  or  imposi- 
tion of  penalties  other  than  the  mere  abolition  of  slavery. 
The  majority  of  his  people,  however,  had  become  so  ex- 
cited by  the  events  of  the  war  as  to  receive  this  advice 
with  disfavor,  and  on  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  which 
happened  while  Mr.  Beecher  was  at  Fort  Sumter,  and 
therefore  could  know  nothing  about  it,  this  feeling  on  the 
part  of  most  of  his  friends  became  quite  intense,  and  es- 
pecially strong  among  those  who  had  not  been  known  as 
Abolitionists  before  the  war.  Many  of  them  informed 
him  on  his  return  that  they  would  not  consent  to  his  ad- 
vocating general  amnesty,  as  he  had  intimated  his  inten- 
tion of  doing.  It  was  the  first  time  in  which  any  of  Mr. 
Beecher's  friends  had  thought  him  too  conservative,  and 
the  opposition  to  his  views  was  the  most  vigorous  that 
he  had  ever  met  with  in  his  own  circle.  It  made,  how- 
ever, little  difference  with  him.  He  persisted  in  oppos- 
ing the  execution  of  Jefferson  Davis,  the  confiscation  of 
rebel  property,  and  every  form  of  punishment.  The  ab- 
olition of  slavery  he  never  regarded  as  a  punishment  at 


HIS   CAREER   IN   POLITICS.  22$ 

all,  but  rather  as  a  benefit  alike  to  the  master  and  the 
slave.  For  more  than  a  year  this  difference  of  opinion 
between  him  and  the  majority  of  his  church  continued, 
producing  the  only  instance  of  what  might  be  called  alien- 
ation between  them  ever  known  in  the  history  of  the 
church.  It  was  a  singular  fact,  however,  that  in  these 
views  he  was  sustained  by  nearly  every  original  Abolition- 
ist among  his  church  members,  and  that  the  most  strenu- 
ous opponents  of  his  policy  of  conciliation  were  gentle- 
men who  had  been  considered  in  former  years  as  leaning 
somewhat  toward  the  South. 

Says  another  account : 

His  anti-slavery  position  was  that  of  the  Republi- 
can party — freedom  national  and  slavery  sectional.  .  But 
while  denying  the  right  of  the  nation  to  interfere  with 
slavery  in  the  States,  he  insisted  on  the  right  of  moral 
interference,  and  exercised  it  freely  upon  every  fit  occa- 
sion. In  the  trying  times  of  1866  he  took  sides  with 
•President  Johnson  in  his  controversy  with  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  rhetorically  assigned  to  him  a  fame  in 
history  equal  to  that  of  Washington.  His  impetuous 
emotion  betrayed  him  into  many  similar  exaggerations. 
But  his  position  at  that  time  was  an  expression  of  his 
abiding  faith  that  a  policy  of  the  largest  clemency  was 
the  best  policy  of  reconstruction.  He  had  great  compan- 
ions in  this  faith — Lincoln,  and  John  A.  Andrew,  and 
General  Grant. 

10 


226      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

In  view  of  their  friendship  and  political  affiliations,  it 
was  generally  expected  that  Beecher  would  support  Hor- 
ace Greeley  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1872  ;  but  his 
gratitude  to  General  Grant  for  many  favors  which  he 
had  enjoyed,  as  well  as  his  high  opinion  of  his  abilities, 
led  him  to  advocate  his  election. 

Mr.  Beecher's  friendly  attitude  toward  the  recon- 
structed South,  and  his  wish  to  visit  that  section  of  the 
country,  led  to  a  lecture  tour  in  1882,  when  he  delivered 
his  lecture  on  "  The  North  and  the  South  "  in  Rich- 
mond, Va.  According  to  the  newspapers,  Mayor  Car- 
rington,  of  Richmond,  gives  the  following  account  of  Mr. 
Beecher's  visit  to  that  city : 

"  One  of  the  most  dramatic  events  in  the  oratorical  ca- 
reer of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  occurred  in  Richmond,  in 
1882,  during  his  lecturing  tour  through  the  South.  The 
announcement  that  he  was  to  lecture  at  Mozart  Hall  on 
«  The  North  and  the  South  '  filled  the  old  building.  It 
was  his  first  appearance  in  Richmond  since  the  war,  and ' 
he  was  rather  doubtful  about  the  kind  of  reception  he 
would  get.  When  he  walked  out  on  the  stage  he  saw 
before  him  a  distinguished  audience  of  Southerners,  in- 
cluding several  of  the  leading  generals  on  the  losing  side. 
In  the  fourth  row  of  the  orchestra  sat  General  Fitzhugh 
Lee,  and  just  behind  him,  General  Rosser,  while  near  by 
were  ex-Governor  '  Extra  Billy '  Smith  and  Governor 
Cameron.  No  applause  greeted  the  great  preacher  as  he 


HIS   CAREER   IN    POLITICS.  22/ 

stepped  before  the  foot-lights.  The  ladies  levelled  their 
opera-glasses  at  him  with  cold  curiosity,  and  the  men 
looked  coolly  expectant.  Some  hisses  from  a  few  row- 
dies in  the  gallery  did  not  tend  to  dispel  the  chilliness  of 
the  reception. 

"  Mr.  Beecher  surveyed  the  audience  calmly  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  then  stepping  directly  in  front  of  General  Lee, 
he  said  :  '  I  have  seen  pictures  of  General  Fitzhugh  Lee, 
and  I  judge  that  you  are  the  man  ;  am  I  right  ? ' 

"  The  general,  slightly  taken  aback  by  this  direct  ad- 
dress, nodded  stiffly,  while  the  audience  bent  forward 
breathless  with  curiosity  as  to  what  was  going  to  follow. 

" '  Then,'  said  Mr.  Beecher,  his  face  lighting  up,  '  I 
want  to  offer  you  this  right  hand  which,  in  its  own  way, 
fought  against  you  and  yours  twenty-five  years  ago,  but 
which  I  would  now  willingly  sacrifice  to  make  the  Sunny 
South  prosperous  and  happy.  Will  you  take  it,  gen- 
eral ? ' 

"  There  was  a  moment's  hesitation,  a  moment  of  death- 
like stillness  in  the  hall,  and  then  Fitzhugh  Lee  was  on 
his  feet,  his  hand  was  extended  across  the  foot-lights,  and 
was  quickly  met  by  the  warm  grasp  of  the  preacher's. 

"  At  first  there  was  a  murmur,  half  of  surprise  and  half  of 
doubtfulness,  from  the  audience  ;  then  there  was  a  hesitat- 
ing clapping  of  hands,  and  before  Beecher  had  unloosed  the 
hand  of  Robert  E.  Lee's  nephew — now  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia— there  were  cheers  such  as  were  never  before  heard 


228      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

in  old  Mozart,  though  it  had  been  the  scene  of  many  a 
war  and  political  meeting. 

"  But  that  was  only  the  beginning  of  the  enthusiasm. 

"  When  the  noise  subsided  Mr.  Beecher  said  :  '  When 
I  go  back  home,  I  shall  proudly  tell  that  I  have  grasped 
the  hand  of  the  nephew  of  the  great  Southern  chieftain  ; 
I  shall  tell  my  people  that  I  went  to  the  Confederate 
capital  with  a  heart  full  of  love  for  the  people  whom  my 
principles  once  obliged  me  to  oppose,  and  that  I  was  met 
half-way  by  the  brave  Southerners,  who  can  forgive  as 
well  as  they  can  fight.' 

"  Five  minutes  of  applause  followed,  and  then  Mr. 
Beecher,  having  gained  the  hearts  of  his  audience,  began 
his  lecture  and  was  applauded  to  the  echo.  That  night 
he  entered  his  carriage  and  drove  to  his  hotel  amid  shouts 
such  as  had  never  greeted  a  Northern  man  in  Richmond 
since  the  war." 

Although  Mr.  Beecher  had  been  associated  all  his  life 
with  the  Republican  Party,  and  had  achieved  his  greatest 
successes  as  a  political  speaker  in  connection  with  that 
party,  and  his  weightiest  influence  had  been  acquired 
with  the  members  of  that  party,  when  Mr.  Cleveland 
was  nominated  for  the  Presidency  in  1884  he  openly  ex- 
pressed his  preference  for  the  Democratic  candidate,  and 
before  the  close  of  the  campaign  cut  loose  entirely  from 
his  old  party  affiliations  and  made  a  number  of  telling 
speeches  in  favor  of  the  opposing  candidate.  Beginning 


HIS   CAREER   IN    POLITICS  22p 

with  a  ringing  speech  at  a  great  meeting  in  the  Brooklyn 
Academy  of  Music,  he  followed  it  up  with  equally  telling 
efforts  at  a  business  men's  open-air  meeting  down-town, 
and  at  other  gatherings  in  this  city.  This  breaking  loose 
from  old  ties  brought  down  on  him,  of  course,  the  resent- 
ment of  many  of  his  old  party  associates,  and  subjected 
him  to  much  bitter  animadversion;  but  in  this  case, as  in 
the  opposition  he  aroused  by  his  policy  of  conciliation  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  he  listened  to  abuse  with  indiffer- 
ence, and  smiled  serenely  at  the  impotent  wrath  of  his 
traducers. 

Parishioners  who  had  never  wavered  in  their  allegiance 
in  the  darkest  days  now  angrily  deserted  him.  Said  an 
excellent  lady :  "  I  would  not  have  believed  him  guilty  if 
he  had  declared  himself  so  in  the  pulpit,  but  I  believe  it 
now"  Such  was  the  quality  of  partisan  feeling.  But, 
however  unwise  some  of  his  public  utterances,  Mr. 
Beecher's  support  of  Mr.  Cleveland  was  one  of  the  most 
deliberate,  one  of  the  least  impulsive,  actions  of  his  life. 
In  1876  he  was  reserved,  and  openly  declared,  that  if 
Blaine  were  nominated  he  would  not  support  him.  He 
never  changed  his  mind.  His  course  in  1884  proved  his 
courage  to  the  uttermost.  But  in  this  virtue  he  was 
never  lacking.  He  was  a  consistent  supporter  of  Presi- 
dent Cleveland's  administration.  In  becoming  a  "  Mug- 
wump," as  has  been  shown,  Mr.  Beecher  encountered 
opposition  from  his  warmest  friends  in  and  out  of  his 


230      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

church.  He  had  made  Mr.  Cleveland's  acquaintance  at 
Albany  while  he  was  governor,  and  it  was  mainly  through 
him  that  General  Horatio  C.  King's  appointment  on 
the  governor's  staff  was  secured.  Governor  Cleveland's 
famous  letter  to  Mr.  Beecher  exonerating  himself  from 
certain  grave  and  infamous  charges  convinced  Mr. 
Beecher  that  he  was  maligned,  and  that  the  opposition 
were  resorting  to  unfair  weapons  in  employing  scandal  to 
encompass  his  defeat.  He  considered,  besides,  the  most 
important  issue  in  the  campaign  to  be  that  of  the  Civil 
Service  Reform  advocated  by  Cleveland.  Among  the 
"  Mugwumps  "  he  found  several  old-time  allies,  including 
George  William  Curtis. 

It  is  to  be  related  now,  for  the  first  time,  that  when 
there  was  a  clamor  on  the  part  of  the  Democrats  for  a 
partisan  appointment  of  the  New  York  Postmaster,  Mr. 
Beecher  and  Mr.  Curtis  saw  President  Cleveland  on  be- 
half of  the  incumbent,  Mr.  Pearson.  President  Cleve- 
land was  on  the  horn  of  a  dilemma  between  the  Mug- 
wumps, advocating  Civil  Service  Reform  as  expounded  by 
himself — i.e.,  the  retention  in  office  of  proper,  faithful, 
and  competent  men,  without  regard  to  party  affiliations — 
and  his  party,  demanding  removals  of  republican  officials 
and  their  places  for  partisans.  President  Cleveland  re- 
quested Messrs.  Beecher  and  Curtis  to  name  some  Demo- 
crat who  would  be  acceptable  to  them.  But  they  de- 
clined, saying  that  they  sought  the  retention  of  Mr. 


HIS   CAREER   IN    POLITICS.  231 

Pearson  in  the  office  purely  on  the  grounds  of  Civil  Ser- 
vice Reform,  not  partisan  or  personal ;  that  he  had  proved 
himself  an  efficient  and  faithful  official,  whose  removal 
under  the  circumstances  was  not  justifiable  for  any  other 
than  partisan  reasons,  and  to  give  his  place  to  a  Demo- 
crat. President  Cleveland  hearkened  to  their  wishes  and 
counsel,  and  reappointed  Mr.  Pearson. 

While  Mr.  Beecher's  course  in  regard  to  the  election 
of  Cleveland  alienated  many  of  his  followers  in  the  Re- 
publican Party,  which  he  had  been  instrumental  in  creat- 
ing, he  gained  many  admirers  in  the  ranks  of  the  De- 
mocracy in  the  South  as  well  as  in  the  North,  and  many 
resolutions  of  regret  at  his  death  were  adopted  by  po- 
litical bodies  which  years  ago  bitterly  denounced  him. 
The  sentiment  of  the  Democratic  Party  in  regard  to  him 
was  voiced  by  the  resolutions  and  speeches  of  the  Young 
Men's  Democratic  Club  of  Brooklyn.  At  a  meeting  on 
the  evening  after  his  death,  Mr.  David  A.  Boody,  chair- 
man of  the  Executive  Committee,  first  took  the  floor, 
and  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

"We  meet  to-night  under  the  shadow  of  a  national  sor- 
row. All  over  the  land,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
from  Alaska  to  the  Gulf,  that  shadow  has  spread.  It 
has  entered  every  hamlet  with  the  announcement  that 
"  a  prince  and  a  great  man  has  fallen."  No  matter  what 
may  be  men's  political  affiliations,  no  matter  what  their 
religious  creed,  all  feel  to-day  that  they  have  been 


232      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

touched  by  a  personal  sorrow.  Henry  Ward  Beecher's 
great  heart  seemed  to  have  grown  too  large  for  any  party, 
for  any  creed.  It  beat  for  humanity.  Wherever  men 
have  struggled  for  better  government  or  better  morals, 
or  wherever  they  have  taught  a  higher  manhood,  they 
have  been  encouraged  and  inspired  by  him  whom  we 
now  mourn.  Wherever  human  limbs  have  worn  the 
shackles  of  oppression,  or  the  human  mind  has  been  un- 
der the  bondage  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  there  may 
be  found  the  records  of  this  great  life.  While  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  lived  for  the  world,  and  the  world  is  to-day 
doing  homage  to  his  memory,  it  is  peculiarly  fitting  that 
we,  his  townsmen,  we  who  have  seen  him  so  frequently 
in  the  life,  who  have  witnessed  his  cheerful  bearing,  who 
have  known  his  patient  endurance  when  the  clouds  of 
sorrow  and  defamation  rolled  over  his  head — we  who 
have  been  swayed  and  thrilled  by  an  eloquence  and  an 
imagery  all  his  own,  should  place  upon  our  records  some 
token  indicating  our  sense  of  bereavement;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  death  of   Henry  Ward  Beecher 
brings  to  us  a  personal  grief,  to  our  country  a  national 
affliction,  and  to  the  world  an  irreparable  loss." 
Another  member,  Mr.  E.  M.  Shepard,  said : 
"  As  we  are  a  political  club  and  a  Democratic  body- 
there  was  one  element  in  Mr.  Beecher's  character  that  I 
should  like  to  touch  upon.     He  was  not  a  politician,  but 
a  clergyman ;  but  he  differed  from  all  other  ministers  in 


HIS   CAREER   IN   POLITICS.  233 

one  quality.  He  had  an  extraordinary  prescience.  Mr. 
Beecher  always  read  the  signs  of  the  time  in  regard  to 
future  political  movements.  He  always  knew  what  was 
coming.  Looking  backward,  we  have  to  admit  that  his 
judgment  in  advance  in  regard  to  political  questions 
proved  to  be  sound.  For  instance,  take  the  slavery  ques- 
tion. On  that  question  he  was  right.  The  Democratic 
party  now  sees  it.  The  moral  question  involved  was 
overwhelming  and  sure  to  prevail  in  the  end.  Mr.  Cal- 
houn  said,  after  he  had  read  one  of  Mr.  Beecher's  earlier 
speeches  on  the  subject :  '  Mr.  Beecher  has  the  kernel  of 
the  subject.  Slavery  is  morally  wrong.'  Then  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion  came.  I  used  as  a  boy  to  look  with 
hostility  upon  political  sermons.  I  would  go  to  Mr. 
Beecher's  church  and  burn  with  indignation  while  he 
preached  upon  political  subjects  ;  but  he  was  right.  Then 
came  the  days  of  reconstruction,  when  we  Democrats 
saw  what  we  considered  dastardly  and  tyrannical  at- 
tempts to  give  suffrage  to  ignorant  slaves.  I  still  think 
it  was  wrong,  but  it  had  to  be  done  in  order  to  blot  out 
sectional  differences.  He  was  again  right.  Then,  again, 
when  he  stood  upon  the  battlements  of  Sumter  he  struck 
the  key-note  when  he  said  that  the  main  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  insist  that  the  rights  of  white,  as  well  as  of  the 
black,  men  should  be  regarded.  He  was  in  a  very  small 
minority,  and  this  action  caused  intense  bitterness  against 

him  ;  but  he  was  right.     Then  on  the  money  question  we 
10* 


234      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

were  far  astray.  Beecher  was  right  then.  It  is  not  out 
of  place  to  say  that  when  Mr.  Beecher  died  he  was  a 
Democrat.  To  be  sure,  at  different  times  he  was  forced 
by  his  convictions  to  go  against  the  Democratic  Party, 
but  its  fundamental  principles  he  always  advocated.  Mr. 
Beecher  was  sound  on  the  question  of  tariff  reform  and 
Civil  Service.  He  recognized  as  few  men  did  that  when 
the  sentimental  questions  evolved  by  the  war  were  set- 
tled but  two  questions  remained  for  the  consideration 
of  the  people,  namely,  the  administrative  question  and 
that  of  taxation.  There  has  never  been  a  man  outside 
of  politics  of  so  sound  a  political  foresight.  I  say  more  : 
there  have  been  few  men  in  practical  politics  who  were 
so  intelligent,  so  patriotic,  so  beneficent  as  he." 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted. 

"  His  own  party  "  has  also  adopted  appropriate  reso- 
lutions regretting  his  death,  as  shown  by  the  action  of 
the  New  York  Republican  Club  in  the  following  reso- 
lution : 

"  This  club  has  received  with  profound  regret  the  in- 
telligence of  the  death  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  He 
was  throughout  the  anti-slavery  struggle  that  resulted  in 
the  formation  of  the  Republican  Party  one  of  the  fore- 
most champions  of  liberty  and  equal  rights.  The  early 
years  of  this  party  were  largely  supported  by  his  great 
powers,  and  to  few,  aside  from  the  chief  generals  in  the 
field,  did  the  cause  of  the  Union  owe  more  during  the 


HIS   CAREER   IN   POLITICS.  23$ 

dark  days  of  the  Rebellion.  Possessed  of  extraordinary 
powers  as  an  orator  and  thinker,  he  was  ever  ready  to 
use  them,  not  only  in  the  cause  of  religion,  his  chosen 
field,  but  in  behalf  of  every  movement  that  tended  to  the 
extension  of  the  rights  or  the  amelioration  of  the  con- 
dition of  humanity.  This  club,  recognizing  his  great  ser- 
vices to  the  party  and  to  the  country,  desires  to  place  on 
record  this  expression  of  its  sense  of  the  loss  his  death 
has  occasioned  to  the  entire  civilized  world." 

The  following  report  from  the  New  York  Tribune, 
October  23,  1884,  of  a  speech  at  a  meeting  in  Brooklyn, 
in  which  Mr.  Beecher  explained  his  course  in  regard  to 
Cleveland  and  his  conversion  to  Mugwumpism,  is  inter- 
esting in  this  connection  : 

At  the  Brooklyn  Rink,  last  evening,  Henry  Ward  Beecher  told 
a  crowded  audience  his  reasons  for  supporting  Cleveland  in  prefer- 
ence to  Blaine.  The  meeting  was  held  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Brooklyn  Independents.  Mr.  Beecher  began  by  expressing  his 
regrets  that  he  found  himself  compelled  to  oppose  the  Republican 
nominee.  "My  appearance  here  to  antagonize  the  organized  action 
of  the  Republican  Party,"  said  he,  "  is  a  fact  of  very  significant 
character.  Before  many  of  you  were  born  I  rocked  the  cradle  of 
the  Republican  Party."  He  then  briefly  but  eloquently  sketched 
his  work  for  the  Republican  Party,  eliciting  frequent  outbursts  of 
applause.  Then  he  gave  his  reasons  for  opposing  it.  "  I  don't 
mean  to  be  a  pall-bearer  to  carry  the  coffin  of  the  Republican 
Party  to  the  grave.  It  is  going  down  to  destruction  unless  you 
switch  it  off  on  to  a  side-track."  He  next  expressed  the  solemnity 


236      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

of  his  feelings  on  finding  himself  opposed  to  the  party  he  had  so 
long  fought  for.  "  My  whole  spirit  and  whole  soul  is  as  solemn  as 
on  any  day  that  I  remember  of  my  whole  life.  I  am  in  dead  ear- 
nest." Then  followed  a  reference  to  the  achievements  of  the  Re- 
publican Party  and  a  glance  into  the  future.  ' '  There  are  two  great 
dangers,"  he  said,  "  that  threaten  our  Government.  One  is  the 
growing  influence  of  wealth ;  the  other  is  the  danger  that  comes 
from  the  corruption  of  power  too  long  in  the  same  hands."  A  ref- 
erence to  the  growing  greed  for  wealth  followed.  "  We  are  a 
money-making  people,"  he  said,  "  to  an  incredible  extent.  Protec- 
tion is  a  vast  scheme  of  taxation.  It  rolls  into  the  reservoirs  at 
Washington  four  hundred  millions  of  dollars  every  year,  and  one 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  lie  pulseless  and  useless  there  to-day." 
Next  was  portrayed  the  extent  of  corruption — votes  bought,  judge- 
ships  bought,  and  so  on.  "  To-day,"  he  said,  "  it  is  sought  to  buy 
a  candidate  into  the  Presidential  chair  with  money.  I  have  been 
credibly  informed  that  between  one  and  two  millions  of  dollars 
have  been  rolled  West  to  gild  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  another  like 
stream  is  pouring  into  Indiana.  The  day  is  coming  when  we  shall 
be  honey-combed  by  corruption."  He  asked  which  candidate 
would  be  more  likely  to  resist  this  canker  of  corruption,  and  fol- 
lowed with  a  series  of  sneering  questions  which,  without  directly 
stating,  implied  that  Mr.  Blaine  was  a  very  corrupt  and  unfit  man. 
Mr.  Beecher  next  gave  an  account  of  many  of  the  good  things 
and  some  of  the  bad  things  the  Republican  Party  had  done  in  the 
past.  He  dilated  on  the  dangers  of  official  corruption,  and  said  many 
hard  things  of  Mr.  Blaine,  and  implied  more,  but  gave  him  credit 
for  possessing  many  personal  and  social  attractions.  "  If  you  vote 
for  Blaine,"  said  he,  "  you  vote  for  corruption;  if  you  vote  for  St. 
John,  you  vote  into  the  air  ;  if  you  vote  for  Butler,  you  vote  into 
the  mud  ;  if  you  vote  for  Cleveland  you  vote  for  an  honest  man." 


HIS   CAREER   IN   POLITICS.  237 

Mr.  Beecher  next  touched  upon  Cleveland's  moral  character,  and 
instantly  people  were  on  the  tiptoe  of  expectation. 

"The  air  is  murky,"  he  said,  "with  shameless  stories  of  Mr. 
Cleveland's  private  life.  To  our  sorrow  and  shame  we  find  cocka- 
trice-eggs hatched  by  rash  and  credulous  clergymen.  They  could 
not  go  to  Mr.  Cleveland  with  honest  inquiry  ;  so  they  open  their 
ears  to  the  harlot  and  drunkard.  They  have  sought  by  irrespon- 
sible slander  to  poison  the  faith  of  holy  men  and  innocent  women. 
Do  these  ministers  ever  reflect  that  the  guilt  of  a  vice  or  a  crime 
measures  the  guilt  of  him  who  charges  it  falsely  ?  My  honored 
and  beloved  wife,  quite  unbeknown  to  me,  cut  many  clippings 
from  the  newspapers,  all  of  which  reflected  on  the  life  of  Mr. 
Cleveland  at  Albany,  and  sent  them  to  him  with  a  letter  that  will 
not  be  published,  but  that  would  be  a  gem  in  English  literature  if 
it  were  published.  As  quick  as  the  mail  could  return  she  received 
from  Governor  Cleveland  a  letter  which  I  have  had  between  two 
and  three  weeks,  and  which  he  meant  to  be  private  and  marked 
'  private  ; '  but  such  complexion  has  the  canvass  taken  that  I  tele- 
graphed to  him  two  nights  ago  to  ask  if  he  would  allow  me  to  use 
my  discretion  in  regard  to  that  letter.  His  reply  was,  '  Certainly, 
if  it  is  your  judgment.'  Now  I  will  read  Governor  Cleveland's 
letter."  Mr.  Beecher  then  read  the  famous  letter,  which  is  too 
well  known  to  need  repetition  here.  As  he  read  the  portion 
wherein  Mr.  Cleveland  emphatically  denied  that  he  had  been  guilty 
of  improper  conduct  during  his  residence  in  Albany,  the  audience 
indulged  in  vociferous  and  prolonged  cheering. 

There  was  loud  applause  when  Mr.  Beecher  finished  reading 
the  letter.  When  it  had  died  away  he  continued,  with  much 
visible  emotion  :  "  When  in  the  gloomy  night  of  my  own  suffer- 
ings, in  years  gone  by,  I  sounded  every  depth  of  sorrow,  I 
vowed  that  if  God  would  bring  the  day  star  of  hope  to  me,  I  would 


238      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

never  suffer  brother,  friend,  or  neighbor  to  go  unfriended,  should 
a  like  serpent  seek  to  crush  him.  [Applause.]  That  oath  I  will 
regard  now,  because  I  know  the  bitterness  of  venomous  lies.  I  will 
stand  against  infamous  lies  that  seek  to  sting  to  death  a  man,  a 
magistrate  worthy  of  a  better  fate.  Men  counsel  me  to  ponder 
lest  I  stir  again  my  own  griefs.  No,  I  will  not  be  frightened.  If 
I  refuse  to  interpose  a  shield  of  well-placed  confidence  between 
Governor  Cleveland  and  the  swarm  of  liars  that  wallow  in  the  mud 
of  slander,  may  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  and 
may  my  right  hand  forget  its  cunning  !  I  will  imitate  the  noble 
example  set  me  by  Plymouth  Church  in  the  day  of  my  calamity. 
They  were  not  ashamed  of  my  burden.  They  stood  by  me  with 
God-inspired  loyalty.  It  was  an  heroic  deed.  They  have  set  my 
duty  before  me.  I  will  imitate  their  example,  and  as  long  as  I 
have  breath  I  will  not  see  a  man  attacked  by  serpents  or  venomous 
stinging  insects,  and  not,  if  I  believe  him  to  be  honest,  stand  with 
him  and  for  him  against  all  comers."  [Loud  applause.] 


CHAPTER  X. 

HIS    LITERARY    LIFE. 

Journalistic  and  Literary  Experience. — The  New  York  Independent.—' 
The  Christian  Union. — Star  Papers. — List  of  His  Books. — Reluc- 
tance at  Literary  Composition. — His  First  Work,  "  Lectures  to 
Young  Men." — Success  of  the  Book. — Its  Enormous  Sale. — First 
Work  of  an  Indiana  Author  reprinted  in  England. — How  He  re- 
garded It. — Summary  of  the  Lectures. — Industry  and  Idleness. — 
Pointed  Sentences  and  Telling  Truths. — A  Forcible  Style. — Dishon- 
esty and  its  Consequences. — Evils  of  Riches  as  Such. —  "The  Portrait 
Gallery." — Gamblers  and  Gambling.  —  "  The  Strange  Woman." — The 
Theatre  and  Its  Evils. — Views  modified  in  Later  Life. — Mr.  Beecher 
and  Henry  Irving. 

MR.  BEECHER'S  journalistic  and  literary  work  is  in  it- 
self £  magnificent  monument  to  his  memory.  As  stated 
elsewhere,  his  first  journalistic  experience  was  as  editor  of 
the  Cincinnati  Journal,  and  he  subsequently  conducted, 
at  Indianapolis,  the  Western  Farmer  and  Gardener,  as  a 
matter  of  recreation.  When  the  New  York  Independent 
was  started  he  became  a  regular  contributor  to  its  col- 
umns, and  from  1861  to  1864  he  was  its  editor-in-chief. 
Finding  his  editorial  duties  somewhat  onerous,  he  then 
resigned  his  position,  and  was  succeeded  by  Theodore 
Tilton  ;  but  he  continued  for  several  years  to  contribute 
at  least  one  article  weekly  to  the  columns  of  the  paper. 


240      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

These  articles  were  signed  with  an  asterisk,  and  thus  be- 
came known  as  "  Star  Papers."  The  most  striking  of 
them  were  afterward  published  in  book  form  with  the 
above  title,  and  had  a  very  wide  sale. 

In  1870  he  became  editor  of  The  Christian  Union,  a 
position  which  he  held  for  three  or  four  years ;  after  his 
retirement  he  contributed  to  the  columns  of  the  paper  as 
he  had  contributed  to  The  Independent  after  resigning  its 
editorial  chair.  By  his  work  on  these  papers  he  exerted 
wide  influence  on  the  public  thought  of  his  time.  Those 
journals  under  his  charge  were  in  fact  foremost  among 
the  leading  vital  forces  in  American  journalism. 

Few  persons  know  what  an  immense  amount  of  liter- 
ary work  Mr.  Beecher  accomplished.  The  following  is 
a  list  of  the  published  works : 

Sermons,  ten  volumes  of  475  pages  each. 

Sermons,  four  volumes  of  600  pages  each. 

"  A  Summer  Parish,"  240  pages. 

"  Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,"  first,  second,  and  third 
series. 

"  Lectures  to  Young  Men,"  506  pages. 

"  Star  Papers,"  600  pages. 

"  Pleasant  Talk  about  Fruits,  Flowers,  and  Farming," 
498  pages. 

"  Lecture  Room  Talks,"  384  pages. 

"  Norwood ;  or,  Village  Life  in  New  England,"  549 
pages. 


HIS   LITERARY   LIFE.  241 

"  The  Overture  of  Angels." 

"  Eyes  and  Ears  ;  or,  Thoughts  as  They  Occur." 

"  Freedom  and  War." 

"  Royal  Truths." 

"  Views  and  Experiences  of  Religious  Subjects." 

"  Life  of  Jesus  the  Christ." 

This  is  in  addition  to  his  writings  on  agricultural,  po- 
litical, and  general  subjects,  his  routine  work,  and  special 
trips  for  lecturing  or  speaking.  He  was  always  greatly 
interested  in  church  music,  more  especially  in  the  form 
of  congregational  singing,  and  one  of  the  first  things 
done  by  the  new  pastor  from  the  West,  when  he  took 
charge  of  Plymouth  Church,  was  to  compile  a  book  of 
hymns  and  tunes  for  the  use  of  his  own  and  sister 
churches. 

A  curious  circumstance  in  connection  with  his  literary 
work  was  that  he  disliked  the  effort  of  writing,  and  it 
was  often  hard  work  for  publishers  to  get  "  copy  "  from 
him  at  a  stated  time.  The  writing  of  his  novel  "  Nor- 
wood "  was  a  particularly  painful  task,  and  he  was  sorry, 
during  the  continuance  of  the  work,  that  he  had  ever  be- 
gun it.  His  first  volume  was  "  Lectures  to  Young 
Men,"  published  in  1845,  with  a  second  edition  in  1846, 
and  of  these  two  editions  more  than  sixty  thousand 
copies  were  sold.  The  "  Lectures"  in  1873  were  added 
to  a  uniform  edition  of  Mr.  Beecher's  works.  Indiana 
people  are  specially  proud  of  this  book,  as  it  was  the  first 


242      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

book  by  an  author  residing  in  that  State  which  was  hon- 
ored with  republication  in  England.  Mr.  Beecher  says 
that  the  lectures  were  carefully  written,  and  they  cer- 
tainly bear  internal  evidence  of  his  fidelity  to  his  work 
in  the  early  years  of  his  life.  A  short  time  before  his 
death  he  told  a  friend  that  he  once  contemplated  revis- 
ing them  for  a  new  edition,  but  after  a  careful  examina- 
tion he  did  not  think  he  could  materially  improve  them, 
and  had  consequently  abandoned  the  idea. 

A  summary  of  these  lectures  deserves  a  place  in  this 
memorial.  The  entire  series  may  be  read  with  pleasure 
and  profit,  not  only  by  young  men,  to  whom  they  were 
particularly  addressed,  but  by  everybody.  -They  are  re- 
markable for  their  freshness  and  originality,  are  clear  as 
the  day,  and  forcibly  expressed. 

In  the  first  lecture,  "  Industry  and  Idleness  "  are  dealt 
with.  The  lecturer's  aversion  to  the  bustling  do-nothings 
who  can  accomplish  least  with  the  loudest  noise  is  very  ap- 
parent. "  The  supine  sluggard  is  no  more  indolent  than 
the  bustling  do-nothing.  Men  may  walk  much,  and  read 
much,  and  talk  much,  and  pass  the  day  without  an  un- 
occupied moment,  and  yet  be  substantially  idle ;  because 
Industry  requires  at  least  the  intention  of  usefulness." 
The  lecture  is  divided  into  sections,  the  first  dealing  with 
the  lazy  man,  whose  failing,  he  says,  is  described  by 
Solomon  :  "  How  long  Wilt  thou  sleep,  O  sluggard  ? 
when  wilt  thou  awake  out  of  sleep  ?  .  .  .  He  is  val- 


HIS   LITERARY    LIFE.  243 

iant  at  sleeping  and  at  the  trencher;  but  for  other  courage, 
the  slot /if til  man  saith,  There  is  a  lion  without ;  I  shall  be 
slain  in  the  street.  .  .  .  His  lands  run  to  waste,  his 
fences  are  dilapidated,  his  crops  chiefly  of  weeds  and 
brambles  ;  a  shattered  house "  completing  the  picture. 
"  This  is  the  very  castle  of  Indolence." 

The  second  idler  is  as  useless  as  the  first,  for,  if  active, 
it  is  in  other  people's  business  than  his  own.  The  third 
idler  follows  no  vocation.  "  He  defrauds  his  laundress, 
his  tailor,  and  his  landlord.  He  gambles,  and  swears,  and 
fights — when  he  is  too  drunk  to  be  afraid." 

The  fourth  in  the  list  excites  pity.  Beginning  life 
thriftily,  he  has  become  involved  in  other  men's  affairs, 
and  has  gone  down  in  their  ruin.  He  begins  again,  and  is 
once  more  ruined.  He  then  sinks  into  despondency,  out 
of  which  nothing  can  arouse  him,  and  he  lives  and  dies 
a  discouraged  man. 

The  fashionable  idler  comes  next,  with  "  a  fine  form 
and  manly  beauty,  and  his  chief  end  in  life  is  to  display 
them.  .  .  .  Gay  and  frivolous,  rich  and  useless,  polished 
till  the  enamel  is  worn  off,  his  whole  life  serves  only  to 
make  him  an  animated  puppet  of  pleasure." 

The  last  picture  is  of  the  business  man  who  wishes  to 
subsist  by  his  occupation  while  he  attends  to  pleasure. 
After  a  few  years  he  fails,  and  sinks  to  a  lower  grade  of 
idleness  and  to  ruin. 

Turning  to  Industry,  the  lecturer  says  a  hearty  Indus- 


244      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

try,  with  the  aid  of  health,  good  appetite,  and  good  di- 
gestion, promotes  happiness.  "  The  slave  is  often  hap- 
pier than  the  master,  who  is  nearer  undone  by  license 
than  his  vassal  by  toil."  ..."  Industry  is  the  parent 
of  Thrift,  and  is  a  substitute  for  Genius." 

Reference  is  made  to  scheming  speculations  which  pro- 
duce among  the  young  an  aversion  to  the  slow  accumu- 
lations of  ordinary  industry.  "  But  if  the  butterfly  de- 
rides the  bee  in  summer,  he  was  never  known  to  do  it  in 
the  lowering  days  of  autumn." 

Luck  is  disposed  of  in  very  few  words.  "  I  never  knew 
an  early-rising,  hard-working,  prudent  man,  careful  of  his 
earnings,  and  strictly  honest,  who  complained  of  bad  luck 
.  .  .  the  worst  of  all  luck  is  to  be  a  sluggard,  a  knave, 
or  a  tippler." 

"  Indolence  is  a  great  spendthrift,  and  as  surely  runs  to 
dishonesty  as  lying." 

Temptations  to  indolence  are  stated  as  the  results  of 
wretched  training,  youthful  indulgences,  and  example. 

"  The  example  of  political  men,  office-seekers,  and  pub- 
lic officers,  is  not  always  conducive  to  Industry.  .  .  . 
Had  I  a  son  able  to  gain  a  livelihood  by  toil,  I  had  rather 
bury  him  than  witness  his  beggarly  supplications  for  office ; 
— sneaking  along  the  path  of  men's  passions  to  gain  his 
advantage  ;  holding  in  the  breath  of  his  honest  opinions ; 
and  breathing  feigned  words  of  flattery  to  hungry  ears, 
popular  or  official ;  and  crawling,  viler  than  a  snake, 


HIS   LITERARY    LIFE.  245 

through  all  the  unmanly  courses  by  which  ignoble  wretches 
purloin  the  votes  of  the  dishonest,  the  drunken,  and  the 
vile." 

Lecture  II.  is  devoted  to  "  Dishonesty."  Temporary 
prosperity  in  speculation  and  the  sudden  reverse  of  for- 
tune is  given  as  the  cause  of  the  prevalence  of  dishonesty 
through  the  country  in  these  days.  "  These  times  will 
pass  away  ;  but  like  ones  will  come  again.  As  physicians 
study  the  causes  and  record  the  phenomena  of  plagues  and 
pestilences,  to  draw  from  them  an  antidote  against  their 
recurrence,  so  should  we  leave  to  another  generation  a 
history  of  moral  plagues  as  the  best  antidote  to  their  re- 
curring malignity." 

"  Some  men  find  in  their  bosom  from  the  first  a  vehe- 
ment inclination  to  dishonest  ways.  Knavish  propensities 
are  inherent ;  born  with  the  child  and  transmissible  from 
parent  to  son.  ...  A  child  naturally  fair-minded  may 
become  dishonest  by  parental  example.  .  .  .  Dishon- 
esty is  learned  from  one's  employers.  .  .  .  Extrav- 
agance is  a  prolific  source  of  Dishonesty  .  .  .  and 
Debt  is  an  inexhaustible  fountain  of  Dishonesty."  There 
are  moral  dishonesties,  allowed  by  law,  and  political  dis- 
honesties, which  "breed  dishonesties  of  every  kind."  "A 
corrupt  public  sentiment  produces  Dishonesty  .  .  .  and 
frequent  executive  clemency  has  been  a  temptation " 
thereto.  We  are  advised  to  hope  for  a  more  cheerful 
future,  and  young  men  are  implored  to  be  worthy  of  them- 


246      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER, 

selves  and  of  their  ancestry.  "  May  you  settle  down,  as 
did  Israel  of  old,  a  people  of  God  in  a  promised  and  pro- 
tected land — true  to  yourselves,  true  to  your  country,  and 
true  to  your  God." 

In  Lecture  III.  we  are  warned  against  thinking  that 
riches  necessarily  confer  happiness,  and  poverty  unhappi- 
ness  ;  against  making  haste  to  be  rich ;  against  covetous- 
ness,  which  is  both  unprofitable  and  breeds  misery ; 
against  selfishness,  seeking  wealth  by  covert  dishonesty, 
or  by  violent  extortion,  or  any  flagrant  villany. 

"  Riches  got  by  deceit  cheat  no  man  so  much  as  the 
getter.  Riches  bought  with  guile,  God  will  pay  for  with 
vengeance.  Riches  got  by  fraud  are  dug  out  of  one's 
heart,  and  destroy  the  mine.  Unjust  riches  curse  the 
owner  in  getting,  in  keeping,  in  transmitting.  They 
curse  his  children  in  their  father's  memory,  in  their  own 
wasteful  habits,  in  drawing  around  them  all  bad  men  to 
be  their  companions.  .  .  .  For  the  love  of  money  is 
the  root  of  all  evil,  which,  while  some  have  coveted  after, 
they  have  erred  from  the  faith,  and  pierced  themselves 
through  with  many  sorrows" 

"  The  Portrait  Gallery,"  Lecture  IV.,  is  a  series  of  vivid 
pictures  of  dangerous  men,  who,  owing  to  the  instinct  of 
imitation,  are  often  the  cause  of  deadly  injury  even  to 
strangers  to  them.  In  these  are  included  the  Wit,  per- 
verted ;  the  Coarse  Humorist ;  the  Cynic, "  who  never  sees 
a  good  quality  in  a  man,  and  never  fails  to  see  a  bad  one," 


HIS   LITERARY   LIFE.  247 

and  who  is  termed  a  "  human  owl ;  "  the  Libertine,  who  is 
"  proud  to  be  viler  than  other  men  ; "  the  artful,  cunning, 
and  pretending  Politician,  including  the  Demagogue, 
"  who  seeks  to  gratify  an  invariable  selfishness  by  pre- 
tending to  seek  the  public  good  ; "  also,  the  Party  Man, 
who,  while  preferring  that  "  his  own  side  should  be  vic- 
torious by  the  best  means  and  under  the  best  men,  rather 
than  lose  the  victory  will  consent  to  any  means,  and  fol- 
low any  man." 

"  Evil  men  of  every  degree  will  use  you,  flatter  you, 
lead  you  on  until  you  are  useless ;  then,  if  the  virtuous 
do  not  pity  you,  or  God  compassionate,  you  are  without 
a  friend  in  the  universe." 

In  "  Gamblers  and  Gambling,"  Lecture  V.,  we  have  a 
strong  and  earnest  warning  to  young  men  against  the 
vice  of  gambling,  the  "  Rake's  Progress  "  being  graphically 
described  from  the  first  pack  of  cards  and  small  stakes  to 
the  luxurious  gambling  hell,  and  later  destitution,  and 
ruin.  "  The  wise  manforeseeth  the  evil ;  fools  pass  on  and 
are  punished" 

"  The  Strange  Woman  "  is  the  title  of  Lecture  VI.  It 
is  an  open  warning  against  licentiousness,  and  a  con- 
demnation of  the  criminal  fastidiousness  which  would 
avoid  the  subject.  Referring  to  the  general  subject,  and 
to  obscene  books,  he  says :  "  Men  who,  at  home,  allow 
Don  Juan  to  lie  within  reach  of  every  reader,  will  not 
allow  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  to  expose  the  evil  of  such 


248      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

a  literature."  The  injunction  of  God  to  the  young  upon 
the  ensnaring  danger  of  beauty,  and  her  wiles  of  love  and 
dress,  is  set  before  the  auditor  in  strong  colors.  But  "  it 
is  too  late  !  He  has  gone  in — who  shall  never  return.  He 
goeth  after  Jier  straightway  as  an  ox  goetk  to  the  slaugh- 
ter ;  or  as  a  fool  to  the  correction  of  the  stocks  .  .  . 
and  knowetli  not  that  it  is  for  his  life"  And  then  we  are 
introduced  to  the  five  wards  of  Pleasure,  Satiety,  Dis- 
covery, Disease,  and  Death,  and  there  is  a  final  warning 
against  indulging  in  morbid  imaginations,  evil  compan- 
ions, evil  books  and  pictures. 

The  final  lecture  is  a  reprehension  of  unworthy  pleas- 
ures, in  which  the  circus,  the  theatre,  gambling,  cock- 
fighting,  bear-baiting,  pugilistic  contests,  and  racing  are 
dealt  with  in  an  original  and  characteristic  manner, 
and  discountenanced  for  their  waste  of  time  and  money, 
and  as  being  incompatible  with  the  pursuits  of  every-day 
life.  He  says  "  Those  who  defend  Theatres  would  scorn 
to  admit  actors  into  their  society,"  and  contends  that  the 
general  fact  is  not  altered  by  notable  and  honorable  ex- 
ceptions. 

"  In  the  bosom  of  that  everlasting  storm  which  rains 
perpetual  misery  in  hell,  shalt  thou,  Corrupter  of  Youth  ! 
be  forever  hidden  from  our  view,  and  may  God  wipe  out 
the  very  thoughts  of  thee  from  our  memory." 

In  the  later  years  of  his  life  Mr.  Beecher's  views  of  the 
drama  were  somewhat  modified,  as  he  occasionally  went 


HIS   LITERARY   LIFE.  249 

to  the  theatre  when  the  performance  was  of  the  best  class, 
thereby  securing  the  enmity  of  some  of  his  Christian 
brethren.  He  admired  Edwin  Booth,  John  McCullough, 
Charlotte  Cushman,  and  a  few  others  of  similar  promi- 
nence and  standing,  but  was  outspoken  as  ever  in  his  de- 
nunciation of  sensational  or  indecent  plays  or  perform- 
ances. When  Mr.  Beecher  was  in  London  in  1886  Rev. 
Dr.  Parker  gave  a  dinner,  and  the  menu  card  is  an  inter- 
esting souvenir.  It  bears  Dr.  Parker's  name,  that  of  his 
wife,  and  those  of  Mr.  Beecher,  Mrs.  Beecher,  Henry 
Irving,  and  Ellen  Terry.  Mr.  Beecher  admired  Mr.  Irving 
as  a  great  artist,  and  Mr.  Irving  admired  him  as  a  great 
orator.  The  two  could  meet  on  common  ground  and  be 
entirely  congenial.  Miss  Terry  was  a  no  less  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  Mr.  Beecher  than  Mr.  Irving. 
ii 


CHAPTER  XI. 

HE   WRITES   FOR   THE   LEDGER. 

Sixteen  Years  a  Contributor  to  the  New  York  Ledger. — How  His  Connec- 
tion with  the  Paper  Began.  —  "A  Cannon-ball  in  the  Hat." — Suggest- 
ions for  a  Novel. — How  "  Norwood  "  came  to  be  Written. — Mr. 
Beecher's  Dilatoriness. — His  Outline  of  the  Story. — Mr.  Beecher's 
Fondness  for  Horses. — Riding  behind  Dexter. — Introducing  Mr.  Bon- 
ner  to  London  Punch. — Comments  on  Edward  Everett's  Death. 
— How  He  Misspelled. — Answering  Troublesome  Questions. — De- 
nial of  Current  Rumors. — Never  played  Cards. — Visiting  Bonner's 
Stables. 

OF  the  hundreds  of  men  in  all  walks  of  life  whom 
Mr.  Beecher  called  his  friends,  there  were  probably  few 
in  whom  he  placed  greater  trust  or  to  whom  he  imparted 
more  of  his  confidence,  than  Robert  Bonner.  For  nearly 
twenty  years  the  two  were  intimate.  Week  after  week, 
for  sixteen  years,  Mr.  Beecher's  contributions  were  leading 
features  of  the  Ledger. 

"  In  all  my  intercourse  with  men,"  said  Mr.  Banner, 
"  I  never  met  a  man  like  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  and 
never  expect  to  again.  He  was  sui  generis,  and  a  genius, 
if  ever  there  was  one.  In  losing  him  the  world  loses  a 
man  whose  individuality  and  personal  influence  have 
scarcely  ever  been  equalled.  As  a  friend  he  was  gener 


HE   WRITES   FOR   THE   LEDGER.  2$ I 

ous,  noble- hearted,  and  self-sacrificing,  and  he  was  always 
doing  or  saying  something  to  make  him  the  more  ad- 
mired and  beloved  by  his  friends." 

The  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Bonner  and  Mr.  Beecher, 
which  afterward  ripened  into  warm  friendship,  was 
brought  about  through  a  letter  sent  in  November,  1858, 
by  the  preacher  to  Mr.  Bonner,  calling  his  attention  to  a 
story  in  manuscript  written  by  a  young  lady,  and  re- 
questing the  publisher  to  read  it,  and,  if  he  deemed  it 
good  enough,  to  print  it  in  the  Ledger.  Mr.  Bonner 
replied  that  he  did  not  care  for  the  young  lady's  efforts, 
but  that  he  would  like  to  number  Mr.  Beecher  among 
his  contributors,  and  enclosed  a  good-sized  check  as  an 
earnest  of  his  disposition  to  pay  liberally  for  anything 
from  the  preacher's  pen.  Out  of  this  grew  an  arrange- 
ment by  which  Mr.  Beecher  became  a  regular  weekly 
contributor  to  the  Ledger  s  columns,  beginning  in  Janu- 
ary, 1859,  and  continuing  with  few  interruptions  until 
1874.  The  first  article  contributed  by  the  already  fa- 
mous preacher  was  one  of  a  series  which  he  called 
"  Thoughts  as  They  Occur,  by  One  who  keeps  his  Eyes 
and  Ears  Open,"  and  was  entitled  "  A  Cannon-ball  in  the 
Hat,"  and  is  pointed  to  by  Mr.  Bonner  as  an  excellent 
example  of  his  free,  off-hand,  simple,  and  yet  attractive 
style. 

It  was  in  1865  that  Mr.  Bonner  suggested  to  the  Ply- 
mouth pastor  that  he  write  a  novel.  It  required  little 


252      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

urging  to  get  him  to  consent  to  this,  but  it  was  quite 
another  thing  to  get  the  manuscript  or  any  evidence  that 
Mr.  Beecher  intended  to  carry  out  his  agreement.  He 
was  naturally  dilatory,  and  would  only  write  when  driven 
to  it  by  his  wife  or  publisher.  After  waiting  for  nearly 

• 

two  years,  the  first  instalment  of  "  Norwood,"  which  was 
the  only  novel  ever  written  by  Mr.  Beecher,  was  placed 
in  Mr.  Bonner's  hands,  and  was  printed  in  1867.  For  this 
story  Mr.  Beecher  received  $30,000,  transferring  all  his 
right,  title,  and  interest  in  it  to  Mr.  Bonner  for  that  sum. 
The  latter,  after  running  it  serially  in  the  Ledger^  pub- 
lished it  in  book  form,  and  realized  a  clear  profit  of  $10,000 
from  its  sale.  There  was  a  large  demand  for  it  in  the 
Southern  States. 

On  January  3,  1866,  in  response  to  numerous  inquiries 
from  Mr.  Bonner  as  to  the  progress  he  was  making  with 
the  novel,  Mr.  Beecher  sent  him  this  sketch : 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  BONNER  :  I  know  that  you  have  a 
good  right  to  know  something  of  the  story  of  which  you 
kindly  inquire,  and  will  give  you  some  insight  into  mat- 
ters. 

"  I  could  have  written  a  sketchy  and  superficial  story 
with  perhaps  a  few  weeks'  effort.  But  the  more  I  re- 
flected the  less  I  liked  to  do  so.  The  very  liberal  terms 
which  you  proposed  to  me  seemed  to  me  to  merit,  not 
merely  a  story ',  but,  if  I  could,  one  that  would  be  as  good 


HE   WRITES   FOR   THE   LEDGER.  253 

twenty  years  hence  as  on  the  day  it  appeared.  To  do 
this  it  was  not  enough  that  I  should  have  leisure,  but  that 
I  should  get  my  mind  out  of  the  run  of  public  questions 
in  which  I  have  been  so  deeply  concerned,  and  trained  to 
a  very  different  line  of  thought. 

"  I  propose  to  make  a  story  which  shall  turn,  not  so 
much  on  outward  action  (though  I  hope  to  have  enough 
to  carry  the  story  handsomely)  as  on  certain  mental  or  in- 
ward questions.  I  propose  to  delineate  a  high  and  noble 
man,  trained  to  New  England  theology,  but  brought  to 
excessive  distress  by  speculations  and  new  views.  This 
I  feel  quite  competent  to  manage. 

"  The  heroine  is  to  be  large  of  soul,  a  child  of  nature, 
and,  although  a  Christian,  yet  in  childlike  sympathy  with 
the  truths  of  God  in  the  autumn  world,  instead  of  books. 

"  These  two,  the  man  of  philosophy  and  theology  and 
the  woman  of  nature  and  simple  truth,  are  to  act  upon 
each  other,  and  she  is  to  triumph. 

"  I  propose  introducing  a  full  company  of  various  New 
England  characters,  to  give  a  real  view  of  the  inside  of  a 
New  England  town — its  brewing  thought,  its  inventive- 
ness, its  industry  and  enterprise,  its  education  and  shrewd- 
ness and  tact.  I  purpose  to  introduce  a  Southerner  of  a 
rather  noble  type  and  show  him  off,  faults  and  virtues,  on 
this  background  of  New  England,  and  I  may  transfer  the 
story  in  its  close  to  the  seat  of  war  and  introduce  one  of 
its  campaigns.  But  it  may  so  grow  on  my  hands  that  I 


254      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

shall  leave  that  for  a  separate  effort.  I  am  convinced  that 
I  have  been  wise  in  waiting,  and  that  I  shall  be  far  more 
likely  to  succeed  than  I  should  have  done  if  I  had 
plunged  at  once  into  the  matter,  without  study  and  medi- 
tation. 

"  As  to  time,  I  do  not  see  that  I  can  promise  with  any 
confidence  to  give  you  MSS.  before  May  next.  But  by 
that  time  I  hope  to  be  so  well  assured  of  my  work  as  to 
be  willing  to  have  the  story  begun,  and  also  to  have  it  so 
far  advanced  that  you  can  be  able  to  judge  of  its  merits 
before  beginning  to  print. 

"  I  am  not  neglecting  you  because  I  seem  quiet,  I  as- 
sure you,  and  I  hope  to  make  haste  much  faster  by  and 
by  for  waiting  hitherto. 

"  I  am  like  a  painter  commissioned  to  execute  a  large 
picture,  whose  room  is  full  of  studies  and  sketches,  and 
his  big  canvas  is  sketched  out  and  ready — all  done  but 
the  painting." 

"  I  have  seldom  met  a  man,"  said  Mr.  Bonner,  "  so 
passionately  fond  of  animals,  and  especially  of  horses,  as 
was  Mr.  Beecher.  He  was  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with 
nature.  One  of  his  chief  delights  was  to  be  among 
horses,  and  to  ride  behind  a  swift  stepper  for  an  hour  or 
two  seemed  to  intoxicate  him.  He  was  almost  as  fond 
of  Dexter  as  of  one  of  his  own  children,  and  never  missed 
an  opportunity  to  take  a  ride  with  me  behind  that  noble 


HE   WRITES   FOR   THE   LEDGER.  255 

animal.  Sometimes  his  glee  was  childish.  I  remember 
one  afternoon  we  were  driving  through  a  street  in  Brook- 
lyn when  he  espied  the  Rev.  Dr.  Storrs  soberly  pacing 
the  sidewalk.  He  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to 
stop  and  tell  him  the  name  of  the  horse  that  was  draw- 
ing us,  point  out  his  merits,  and  describe  the  manner  in 
which  he  moved  on  a  good  road.  The  good  Doctor 
seemed  rather  bored,  but  in  his  exuberance  Mr.  Beecher 
did  not  stop  to  consider  whether  Dr.  Storrs  was  inter- 
ested in  horses  or  not. 

"  In  nearly  every  letter  he  ever  wrote  to  me — and  I 
sometimes  received  three  or  four  a  week — he  made  some 
reference  to  my  horses.  Shortly  after  I  had  made  his 
acquaintance  he  addressed  to  me  what  I  regard  as  one  of 
the  best  pieces  of  word-painting  on  a  similar  subject  in 
the  English  language,  and  which  I  published  at  the  time. 
It  was  written  early  in  the  spring,  and  soon  after  he  had 
had  a  discussion  with  someone  as  to  the  humanity  of 
fast  driving.  Listen  !  "  And  Mr.  Bonner  read  this,  en- 
thusiastically drawing  attention  to  the  parts  which  most 
caught  his  fancy  : 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  BONNER  :  You  once  promised  me  a 
ride  with  your  never-to-be-excelled  horses,  and  to-day  is 
the  very  day  for  it.  The  sky  is  clear.  It  is  a  long  while 
since  we  have  had  high,  bright,  clear  days.  They  have 
been  sad  and  cloudy.  Sometimes  snow,  sometimes  rain, 


256      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

sometimes  a  miserable  compromise  between  both.  But 
to-day  is  of  one  mind,  and  that  a  good  mind.  Nature 
is  in  her  sweet  and  grand  mood.  It  is  the  first  day  on 
which  she  cared  to  have  it  known  that  her  mind  was 
made  up  to  have  spring  weather.  The  secret  is  out  now. 
Snow  is  melting.  I  saw  grass  with  fresh  growth  of  green 
this  very  morning.  No  birds  yet.  But  the  grass  said 
birds  as  plainly  as  if  it  had  spoken  English.  They  cannot 
be  far  off. 

"  Is  not  this  a  day  for  a  ride  ?  No  mud  yet.  The  road 
is  hard  and  moist.  Just  the  kind  for  a  spin.  For  I  do 
not  want  any  of  your  lazy,  jogging  gaits.  I  am  entirely 
of  your  mind  that,  if  a  horse  has  had  swiftness  put  in 
him,  it  is  fair  to  give  him  a  chance  to  develop  his  gifts. 
Of  course  there  is  a  bound.  Reason  in  all  things.  Even 
in  trotting  it  is  easier  for  some  horses  to  go  twelve  miles 
an  hour  than  for  others  to  go  three.  They  were  made  so. 
Does  it  hurt  a  swallow  to  go  swifter  than  an  ox  ?  Why 
not  ?  Because  he  was  made  so.  It  is  easy  to  do  the 
thing  we  were  made  to  do  easily.  And  a  good  horse 
was  made  on  purpose  to  go  fast.  He  does  it  when  wild 
of  his  own  accord.  He  does  not  lose  the  relish  of  speed 
even  when  domesticated. 

"  Take  a  fine-bred  horse,  who  in  harness  looks  as  if  he 
were  a  pattern  of  moderation,  a  very  deacon  of  sobriety, 
and  turn  him  loose  in  pasture.  Whew,  what  a  change  ! 
He  takes  one  or  two  steps  slowly,  just  to  be  sure  you 


HE   WRITES   FOR   THE   LEDGER.  257 

have  let  go  of  him,  and  then  with  a  squeal  he  lets  fly  his 
heels  high  in  the  air,  till  the  sun  flashes  from  his  polished 
shoes,  and  then  off  he  goes,  faster  and  fiercer,  clear  across 
the  lot,  till  the  fence  brings  him  up.  And  then,  with  his 
eye  flashing,  his  mane  lifted  and  swelling,  his  tail  up 
like  a  king's  sceptre,  he  snorts  a  defiance  at  you  from  afar, 
and,  with  a  series  of  rearings,  running  sideways,  pawings 
and  plungings,  friskings  and  whirls,  he  starts  again,  with 
immense  enjoyment,  into  another  round  of  running.  Do 
you  not  see  that  it  is  more  than  fun  ?  It  is  ecstasy.  It 
is  horse  rapture ! 

"  I  never  see  such  a  spectacle  that  I  am  not  painfully 
impressed  with  the  inhumanity  of  not  letting  horses  run. 
Fastness  is  a  virtue.  Our  mistaken  moderation  is  de- 
priving him  of  it.  I  drive  fast  on  principle.  I  do  it  for 
the  sake  of  being  at  one  with  nature.  To  drive  slow, 
only  and  always,  is  to  treat  a  horse  as  if  he  were  an  ox. 
You  may  be  slow'  if  you  think  proper.  But  your  horse 
should  be  kept  up  to  nature.  He  would  have  had  but 
two  legs  if  it  was  meant  that  he  should  go  only  on  a 
'  go-to-meeting '  pace.  He  has  four  legs.  Of  course 
he  ought  to  do  a  great  deal  with  them. 

"  Now,  why  do  I  say  these  things  to  you  ?  Not  to 
convince  you  of  your  duty.  But  I  feared  lest,  taking  me 
out  to  ride,  you  would  be  disposed  to  think  that  /  had 
scruples,  and  would  jog  along  moderately,  as  if  doing  me 

a  favor.     Not  at  all.     The  wind  does  not  go  fast  enough 
ii* 


2$8      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

to  suit  me.  If  I  were  an  engineer  of  a  sixty-mile-an- 
hour  express  train,  I  should  cover  twenty  miles  an  hour 
more. 

"  Let  the  horses  be  well  groomed — well  harnessed. 
Let  the  wagon  be  thoroughly  looked  to — no  screw  loose, 
no  flaw  just  ready  to  betray  us.  Mount.  I  am  by  your 
side.  The  whip  is  not  needed.  Yet  let  it  stand  in  its 
place,  the  graceful  hint  of  authority  in  reserve,  which  is 
always  wholesome  to  men  and  horses. 

"  Now  get  out  of  town  cautiously.  No  speed  here. 
This  is  a  place  for  sobriety,  moderation,  and  propriety  in 
driving.  But  once  having  shaken  off  the  crowd,  I  give 
you  a  look,  and  disappear  instantly  in  a  wild  excitement, 
as  if  all  the  trees  were  crazy,  and  had  started  off  in  a 
race,  as  if  the  fences  were  chalk-lines,  as  if  the  earth  and 
skies  were  commingled,  and  everything  were  wildly 
mixed  in  a  supernatural  excitement,  neither  of  earth  nor 
of  the  skies ! 

"  The  wind  has  risen  since  we  started !  It  did  not 
blow  at  this  rate,  surely !  These  tears  are  not  of  sorrow. 
But  really  this  going  like  a  rocket  is  new  to  every  sense. 
Do  not  laugh  if  I  clutch  the  seat  more  firmly.  I  am  not 
afraid.  It  is  only  excitement.  You  may  be  used  to  this 
bird's  business  of  flying.  But  don't  draw  the  rein.  I 
am  getting  calm.  See  that  play  of  muscle!  Splendid 
machinery  was  put  into  these  horses.  Twenty-horse- 
power at  least  in  each  !  And  how  they  enjoy  it !  No 


HE   WRITES   FOR   THE   LEDGER.  2 59 

forcing  here.  They  do  it  to  please  themselves,  and  thank 
you  for  a  chance !  Look  at  that  head  !  Those  ears 
speak  like  a  tongue  !  The  eyes  flash  with  eagerness  and 
will !  Is  it  three  miles  ?  Impossible  !  It  is  not  more 
than  a  mile  and  a  half ! 

"  Well,  draw  up.  Let  me  get  off  now  and  see  these 
brave  creatures.  What  !  not  enough  yet  ?  No  painful 
puffing,  no  throbbing  of  the  flanks.  They  step  nervously 
and  champ  the  bit,  and  lean  to  your  caresses,  as  if  they 
said,  '  All  this  we  have  done  to  please  you  :  now  just  let 
us  go  on  to  please  ourselves ! ' " 

"  Mr.  Beecher  was  a  '  man  of  infinite  jest,'  "  continued 
Mr.  Bonner.  "  He  was  full  of  funny  stories  and  quaint 
and  original  witticisms,  and  in  story,  lecture,  or  sermon 
he  seldom  missed  spinning  a  good  yarn  to  point  a  moral. 
His  letters  were  almost  invariably  in  a  jocular  strain,  and 
he  never  missed  an  opportunity  to  turn  a  point  against 
the  man  who  sent  it.  I  remember  on  one  occasion  of 
sending  him  a  proof-sheet  of  one  of  his  articles  and  of 
making  some  comments  on  it  which  I  suggested  to  him 
were  funny  enough  to  entitle  me  to  a  position  on  the 
London  Punch.  The  messenger  who  took  the  proof 
brought  a  letter  back  which  ran  like  this  : 

"  '  To  THE  EDITOR  OF  LONDON  Punch  :  Robert  Bon- 
ner desires  an  engagement  on  your  paper.  It  gives  me 


260      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

pleasure  to  testify  to  his  good  character.  No  other  one 
man  has  made  me  laugh  so  much.  Just  to  look  at  him 
would  make  one  feel  good-natured,  and  I  would  suggest 
that  his  picture  be  published.  He  has  but  one  fault. 
Should  he  begin  by  contributing  to  the  Punch  he  would 
in  less  than  two  years  own  and  edit  it ;  but  otherwise  he 
may  be  trusted.  H.  W.  BEECHER.' 

"  On  December  19,  1873,  he  wrote  to  tell  me  of  an 
accident  that  had  befallen  him  in  one  of  Brooklyn's 
streets  in  this  somewhat  terse  style : 

"  '  Got  tumbled  out  of  wagon  last  week.  Didn't  hurt. 
Horses  ran  away.  Didn't  hurt  'em.  Wagon  broke. 
Did  hurt.  Got  to  pay  for  it.  My  boys  laugh  at  me. 
Say  I'm  getting  old.  Must  take  them  along  to  drive  for 
me.  Wait ! ' 

"  It  was  shortly  after  he  had  agreed  to  write  '  Nor- 
wood '  for  me  that  this  rather  significant  paragraph  ap- 
peared in  one  of  his  letters  to  me  : 

"  '  I  cannot  remember  a  year  for  fifteen  years  in  which 
I  have  not  been  told  that  I  had  reached  the  end  of  my 
influence.  I  surely  must  at  length  reach  it,  and  it  may 
be  of  use  to  the  ends  of  humility  to  keep  the  fact  daily 
before  me,  that  I  may  not  be  puffed  up.' 

"A  letter  bearing  the  date  April  23,  1870,  sent  by  him 


HE   WRITES  FOR  THE   LEDGER.  261 

to  explain  his  reasons  for  sending  his  weekly  manuscript 
earlier  than  usual,  is  characteristic  and  a  fair  sample  of 
hundreds  that  I  have  filed  away.  He  writes  : 

" '  I  go  to  New  Haven  for  my  lecture  before  the  Di- 
vinity School,  and  don't  get  back  till  Friday  morning  or 
noon — too  late — so  I  send  copy.  Oh,  that  I  could  always 
take  time  by  the  forelock  and  work  beforehand  !  But, 
like  Dexter,  I  can't  trot  in  the  stable.  I  must  be  brought 
out  and  put  on  the  road,  and  have  something  behind  me 
as  well  as  a  good  road  before  me.  There  never  was  a 
horse  so  good  as  not  to  be  better  for  a  good  driver.' 

"A  note  dated  January  18,  1865,  just  after  Edward 
Everett's  death,  contained  this  expression  : 

"  '  I  really  feel  Everett's  death  more  than  I  could  have 
believed.  Till  within  five  years  I  have  not  been  in  sym- 
pathy with  him.  But  since  the  Rebellion  he  has  done 
so  nobly  that  I  remember  only  that,  and  feel  that  the 
country  has  lost  a  true  patriot.  You  have  also  lost  a 
faithful  friend,  true,  honorable,  and — thanks  largely  to 
the  Ledger — a  friend  to  the  common  people.  It  is  not 
often  that  a  whole  land  and  its  government  are  so 
heartily  disposed  to  honor  a  departed  statesman.' 

"  One  of  the  most  peculiar  things  about  Mr.  Beecher's 
correspondence  was  its  utter  lack  of  sameness  or  formality. 
He  addressed  me  in  a  half-dozen  different  styles,  such  as, 
*  My  dear  Mr.  Bonner,'  '  My  dear  Robert,'  '  My  dear 
Bonner,'  and  sometimes,  when  he  wished  to  simulate 


262      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

anger  at  some  fancied  slight,  simply  '  Robert  Bonner.' 
He  invariably  jumped  into  the  subject  that  was  upper- 
most in  his  mind,  and  after  disposing  of  that  would  deal 
in  timely  gossip.  Sometimes  his  changes  from  subject 
to  subject  were  rather  startling.  At  the  end  of  a  common- 
place letter  on  business  topics,  dated  September  12,  1866, 
he  writes :  '  Was  ever  a  man  so  killed  dead  by  his  own 
folly  as  Johnson  ?  A  Vice-President  seems  of  necessity 
to  be  struck  with  insanity  on  the  death  of  \i\s  principle' 

11  You  will  observe  that  he  has  misspelled  the  word 
principal  in  this  instance.  That  cannot  be  taken  as  a 
criterion,  for  he  was  usually  very  accurate  in  his  spelling, 
but  somewhat  weak  in  his  grammar.  His  copy  for  the 
printers  was  written  closely  in  a  small,  almost  effeminate 
hand,  but  was  legible,  and  seldom  required  much  editing. 
Occasionally  one  would  run  across  a  word  that  could  not 
be  deciphered,  but  it  could  generally  be  easily  supplied 
from  the  context.  One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  we 
had  to  contend  with  in  his  literary  work  was  his  habit  of 
procrastination.  His  love  of  out-door  recreation  was  in- 
nate. He  was  always  contented  when  he  could  be  in  the 
open  air,  but  to  sit  at  a  desk  and  write  was  irksome, 
laborious,  and  not  congenial  to  his  nature.  It  was  only 
through  the  constant  teasing  of  his  wife  and  the  frequent 
demands  from  me  that  he  could  be  induced  to  furnish 
his  quota  to  the  Ledger's  columns,  and  sometimes  we 
failed  in  keeping  him  at  work.  He  seemed  to  have  no 


HE    WRIIES   FOR   THE   LEDGER.  263 

realization  of  the  value  of  money,  seldom  hesitating  to 
purchase  any  object  which  suited  his  fancy  whether  he 
could  afford  it  or  not.  His  wife  took  charge  of  the 
family  finances  and  kept  his  accounts,  or  otherwise  he 
would  have  been  obliged,  as  he  once  said  in  one  of  his 
letters,  to  '  have  gone  into  bankruptcy  and  pay  five  cents 
on  the  dollar,'  several  times  in  his  career." 

Following  is  a  characteristic  letter  which  Mr.  Beecher 
once  wrote  to  Mr.  Bonner  in  answer  to  some  questions 
from  the  Ledger  s  readers  : 

"  DEAR  MR.  BONNER  :  You  put  into  my  hands  a 
batch  of  questions,  with  a  hint  that  I  need  not  answer 
them  unless  I  please.  I  do  please.  Of  course  I  do  not 
expect  to  put  an  end  to  such  stories — certainly  not  to 
these  particular  ones.  The  first  story,  in  the  following 
letter,  I  have  contradicted,  in  public  and  private,  scores 
of  times ;  and  the  only  effect,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  is  that 
it  moves  on  more  vigorously  than  ever.  But  here  is  the 
letter : 

" '  DEAR  LEDGER  :  Will  you  please  inform  me,  through 
your  answers  to  correspondents,  if  some  of  the  stories  I 
hear  about  Henry  Ward  Beecher  are  so  or  not  ?  I  have 
heard  that  he  preached  the  sermon  about  being  so 
damned  hot.  I  have  heard,  also,  that  when  asked  by 
another  minister  what  the  difference  was  in  their  re- 


264      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ligions,  that  Mr.  Beecher  answered  that  there  was  a  hell- 
fired  sight  of  difference,  meaning  that  the  other  preached 
that  doctrine  while  he  did  not.  Also,  that  he  is  a 
great  card-player,  and  that  the  slang  phrase  of  "  How  is 
that  for  high  ?  "  was  started  by  him  while  playing  a  game 
of  old  sledge  or  seven-up.  I  don't  know  as  you  will 
like  to  answer  these  questions,  but  they  will  do  a  great 
deal  of  good  to  confirm  his  good  character  out  here.  I 
don't  believe  one  word  of  it.' 

"  No.  1  never  began  a  sermon  by  saying  "  it  is 

d d  hot,"  nor  with  any  variation  of  the  phrase,  nor 

in  any  manner  remotely  like  it.  Now,  I  appeal  to  a 
generous  community  whether  it  is  fair  to  keep  that  story 
on  me  any  longer,  when  there  are  others  waiting  for  their 
turn — for  somebody  will  have  to  carry  it.  There  is 
Brother  Talmage,  he  ought  to  carry  it  a  while.  Why 
not  try  it  upon  Hepworth  ?  Of  course,  such  a  saddle 
would  hardly  fit  the  broad  back  of  the  good  Dr.  John 
Hall ;  but  why  should  he  not  have  something  else  as  good 
made  up  for  him  ? 

"  The  second  story  is  made  up  out  of  the  whole  cloth 
— so  far  as  I  am  concerned.  I  suspect  that  it  was  Dr. 
Chapin  said  it.  Try  it  on  him  ! 

"  As  to  cards,  I  have  never  played  a  game  of  cards 
in  my  life.  My  education  in  that  direction  was  entirely 
neglected.  Indeed,  if  card-playing  is  necessary  to  lib- 


HE   WRITES   FOR   THE   LEDGER.  265 

eral  culture,  I  am  in  a  deplorable  state ;  for  I  do  not 
know  one  card  from  another.  I  am  afraid  that  many 
men  '  on  the  plains,'  or  in  the  mountains  out  West,  will 
not  think  so  well  of  me  now ;  but  the  truth  must  be 
told.  History  is  inexorable.  Our  young  friend  (for  the 
letter  was  sent  hither  by  a  Kansas  boy)  is  at  liberty  to 
read  on  the  house-tops  my  renunciation  and  denial  of 
these  fiery  stories ;  and,  if  he  ever  hears  anything  else 
bad  about  me,  deny  it,  and  stick  to  it,  and  ninety-nine 
times  in  a  hundred,  five  times  over,  he  will  be  right ! 
Now  for  the  next : 

"  '  In  your  answer  to  correspondents  please  inform  me 
whether  Rev.  H.  W.  Beecher  ever  prepares  and  delivers 
a  sermon  or  prayer.  I  claim  he  does,  and  that  the  last 
sermon  he  preached  last  July,  before  his  vacation,  was  a 
written  one.  Am  I  right  ? ' 

"  All  wrong.  Wrong  every  time.  He  does  not  write 
out  his  sermons,  or,  as  it  is  said,  '  deliver  it  on  paper ; ' 
and  the  sermon  of  last  July  was  not  a  written  one. 
Mere  outlines  are  made.  Very  brief  briefs,  as  a  lawyer 
would  say. 

"  I  do  not  promise  to  answer  all  questions,  or  any 
more;  but  being  in  the  mood  I  have  let  fly  at  these 
croaking  birds,  as  one  returning  from  a  hunt  would  fire 
at  a  crow  to  clean  out  his  gun-barrels. 

"  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER." 


266      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

• 

Previous  to  purchasing  his  farm  at  Peekskill,  where  he 
spent  many  happy  days,  Mr.  Beecher  counselled  with  Mr. 
Bonner  and  Mr.  Derby.  After  the  three  gentlemen  had 
walked  up  and  down  the  hills,  Mr.  Bonner  caused  the 
divine  to  laugh  heartily  by  remarking  that  there  was  but 
one  objection  to  the  farm,  and  that  was  absence  of  level 
ground  for  a  mile  track.  Mr.  Beecher  admired  the  high- 
bred horse,  and  one  day  he  said  to  the  owner  of  Dexter : 
"  Robert  Bonner,  you  are  a  very  mean  man." — "  Why  ?  " 
— "  How  can  you  ask  why,  when  you  have  never  invited 
me  up  to  your  Tarrytown  farm  to  see  those  fine  horses 
you  own." — "  But  I  have  never  asked  my  own  pastor, 
Dr.  John  Hall,  to  go  up."—"  What  of  that  ?  What  does 
Dr.  Hall  know  of  the  horse  except  what  he  has  read  in 
Revelations  about  the  red  horse  and  the  white  horse  ?  " 

A  few  years  ago  Mr.  Beecher  delivered  the  annual  ad- 
dress before  the  graduating  class  of  the  American  Veter- 
inary College.  Chickering  Hall  was  crowded  with  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  and  the  committee  were  on  needles  for  a 
little  while.  The  exercises  were  to  commence  at  eight 
o'clock,  and  it  was  8.30  when  the  orator  walked  in,  with 
bent  shoulders  and  a  weary  expression  on  his  face.  He 
had  written  out  his  address  in  full,  and  as  he  had  been 
late  in  getting  down  to  the  task  he  was  behind  time. 
When  he  got  before  his  audience  his  face  brightened  and 
the  carefully  prepared  sentences  were  spoken  with  ani- 
mation. "  Rank,"  he  said,  "  is  determined  by  the  man 


HE    WRITES   FOR   THE   LEDGER.  267 

who  practises,  not  by  the  thing  he  practises  on.  The 
aurist,  the  oculist,  rank  with  neurologists.  A  man  need 
not  be  an  ass  because  he  cares  for  horses."  He  argued 
that  there  was  a  great  future  before  the  veterinarian  in 
this  country.  "  If  ever  an  animal  deserved  itself  the  title 
of  faithful  and  true,  it  is  the  horse.  Loving  liberty,  how 
kindly  he  submits  to  bondage.  With  ten  times  his 
strength,  how  docile  is  he  to  his  driver.  How  willing  to 
learn,  how  anxious  to  please,  how  utterly  he  gives  up 
his  own  life  to  serve  the  wants  of  others.  In  speed  like 
an  eagle ;  in  strength,  a  lion ;  in  gentleness,  a  lamb." 
Mr.  Beecher  delighted  in  nature,  and  had  he  not  entered 
the  pulpit  he  probably  would  have  become  a  closer  stu- 
dent of  the  breeding  problem.  As  it  was,  he  had  a  better 
knowledge  of  the  qualities  of  the  road-horse  than  any 
other  man  of  his  cloth. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

HIS   FIRST   AND   ONLY   NOVEL. 

"  Norwood  ;  or,  Life  North  and  South." — Its  Plot  and  Object. — Norwood 
and  its  Population. — Abiah  Cathcart  and  his  Peculiarities. — Rachel 
Liscomb. — A  Love-making  Scene. — How  the  Momentous  Question 
was  Asked. — The  Country  Doctor. — The  Bachelor  Uncle. — What 
constitutes  a  Gentleman. — Mr.  Beecher's  Views  regarding  Will- 
Power. — Doctoring  through  the  Imagination. — Rose  and  Alice. — 
Negro  Pete. — Polly  Marble  on  getting  Religion. — Tom  Heywood's 
Letter. — The  Battle  of  Gettysburg. — A  Monument  to  Surgeons  and 
Hospital  Nurses. — Marriage  Bells. 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  learned  the  circum- 
stances under  which  "  Norwood  "  was  written.  We  will 
now  take  a  brief  survey  of  that  famous  novel. 

In  the  preface,  Mr.  Beecher  informs  his  readers  that  it 
was  written  for  the  New  York  Ledger  at  the  request  of 
its  editor.  He  had  been  but  a  moderate  reader  of  fiction, 
and  the  work  of  writing  a  story  seems  at  first  to  have  been 
dreaded  by  him  ;  but  he  reflected  that  any  real  human  ex- 
perience was  intrinsically  interesting,  and  that  the  life  of 
a  humble  family  even  for  a  single  day  could  hardly  fail 
to  win  some  interest.  As  the  author  says,  "  The  habit  of 
looking  upon  men,  or  the  children  of  God  and  heirs  of 
immortality,  can  hardly  fail  to  clothe  the  simplest  and 
most  common  elements  of  daily  life  with  importance,  and 


HIS   FIRST   AND    ONLY   NOVEL.  269 

even  with  dignity.  Nothing  is  trivial  in  the  education 
of  the  King's  Son  !  "  Here  spoke  the  whole-souled,  gener- 
ous heart  of  the  man  who  could  find  nobility  in  all  things 
created.  This  feeling  permeates  his  story  of  Village  Life 
in  New  England. 

Beginning  with  a  brief  description  of  the  picturesque 
beauty  of  the  villages  of  New  England  in  general,  and  in 
particular  of  Norwood,  a  town  of  five  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, which  had,  "  in  a  general  and  indistinct  way,  an 
upper,  middle,  and  lower  class,  with  a  wholesome  jealousy 
of  their  rights,  and  a  suspicion  among  the  poor  that 
wealth  and  strength  always  breed  danger  to  the  weak, 
making  the  upper  class  politically  weaker  than  any  other," 
we  are  introduced  to  Abiah  Cathcart  and  Rachel  Liscomb. 
Abiah  Cathcart  is  a  finely  drawn  specimen  of  a  New  Eng- 
land farmer,  who  had  to  begin  life  with  a  healthy  body 
and  mind  and  a  common-school  education.  With  the  aid 
of  these,  by  diligent  perseverance  and  hard  work  the  sturdy 
New  Englander  carved  out  his  own  fortune ;  and  "  who 
shall  blame  his  honest  pride  afterward,  when  he  was 
wealthy,  that  he  had  created  his  own  fortune  ?  Wealth 
created  without  spot  or  blemish  is  an  honest  man's  peer- 
age ;  and  to  be  proud  of  it  is  his  right.  It  is  not  the 
empty  pride  of  money,  but  pride  of  skill,  of  patience,  of 
labor,  of  perseverance,  and  of  honor,  which  wrought  and 
secured  the  wealth." 

Rachel  Liscomb,  the  daughter  of  a  farmer  and  a  dea- 


2/0      LIFE  AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

con,  was  "  one  of  the  few  women  without  gifts  of  speech 
whose  bearing  and  looks  are  a  full  equivalent  for  speech," 
and  from  her  early  training  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  be 
the  companion  and  helpmate  of  Abiah  in  his  journey 
through  life.  A  silent  understanding  has  existed  between 
them  that  they  are  intended  for  each  other,  but  it  is  not 
till  awakened  and  encouraged  by  the  text  of  a  sermon 
that  Abiah  finds  the  courage  to  make  the  understanding 
more  complete.  "  How  strangely  his  voice  sounded  to 
him  as,  at  length,  all  his  emotions  could  only  say, '  Rachel, 
how  did  you  like  the  sermon  ?  '  Quietly,  she  answered, 
'  I  liked  the  text.' — '  A  new  commandment  I  write  unto 
you,  that  ye  love  one  another.  Rachel,  will  you  help  me 
keep  it  ?'  At  first  she  looked  down  and  lost  a  little  color  ; 
then  raising  her  face,  she  turned  upon  him  her  large  eyes, 
with  a  look  both  clear  and  tender.  It  was  as  if  some 
painful  restraint  had  given  way,  and  her  eyes  blossomed 
into  full  beauty.  Not  another  word  was  spoken.  They 
walked  home  hand-in-hand.  He  neither  smiled  nor  ex- 
ulted. He  saw  neither  the  trees  nor  the  long  level  rays 
of  sunlight  that  were  slanting  across  the  fields.  His  soul 
was  overshadowed  with  a  cloud  as  if  God  were  drawing 
near.  He  had  never  felt  so  solemn.  This  woman's  life 
had  been  intrusted  to  him  !  Long  years — the  whole 
length  of  life — the  eternal  years  beyond,  seemed  in  an  in- 
distinct way  to  rise  up  in  his  imagination.  All  that  he 
could  say  as  he  left  her  was: 


HIS  FIRST   AND   ONLY   NOVEL.  2/1 

"  Rachel,  this  is  forever — forever  !  " 

No  effusion  and  protestations  of  undying  affection,  no 
fervent  words  of  love.  Their  hearts  speak  for  them,  and 
both  are  satisfied.  "  Outwardly,  and  in  consonance  with 
the  customs  of  the  neighborhood,  he  was  gay  and  jovial 
at  the  wedding ;  but  down  deep  in  his  soul  he  was  as 
solemn  before  Rachel  as  if  God  spoke  and  he  listened." 
And  then  the  author  continues  : 

"  How  wondrous  are  the  early  days  of  wedlock,  in 
young  and  noble  souls !  How  strange  are  the  ways  of 
two  pure  souls  wholly  finding  each  other  out  ;  between 
whom  for  days  and  months  is  going  on  that  silent  and 
unconscious  intersphering  of  thought,  feeling,  taste,  and 
will  by  which  two  natures  are  clasping  and  twining  and 
growing  into  each  other !  Happy  are  they  who  know,  and 
well  Cathcart  knew,  how  to  bring  such  wisdom  with  lov- 
ing, that  selfishness,  a  poisonous  weed,  shall  die  out ;  and 
love  clothed  with  reverence  shall  grow  and  thrive  with 
power  and  beauty  all  one's  life  !  For,  if  there  be  one  root 
in  which  resides  the  secret  of  producing  immortal  flowers, 
it  is  Love." 

From  such  a  marriage  only  happiness  could  result,  and 
as  years  rolled  on  Cathcart  grew  to  prosperity  and  into 
universal  respect,  and  erelong  we  are  introduced  to  two 
of  his  children,  Barton  and  Alice,  who  come  more  prom- 
inently forward  as  they  advance  to  young  manhood  and 
womanhood. 


2/2      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Dr.  Reuben  Wentworth  is  the  next  prominent  charac- 
ter in  "  Norwood."  By  the  favor  of  his  uncle,  in  his  youth 
he  had  passed  through  Harvard  University,  and  then 
had  come  the  trouble  of  deciding  with  his  uncle  the  call- 
ing he  should  adopt.  Uncle  Ebenezer  was  an  old  bach- 
elor, spry,  lean,  and  "  chipper,"  but  at  heart  a  stern  moral- 
ist, and  loyal  to  the  last  degree  in  his  conduct  to  honor 
and  truth. 

"  Well,  Reuben,"  he  said  to  his  nephew,  "  you  are 
pretty  well  stuffed  with  trash.  It  will  take  several  years 
to  forget  what  you  ought  not  to  have  learned,  and  to  get 
rid  of  the  evil  effects  of  foolish  instruction.  But  that 
will  come  pretty  much  of  itself.  College  learning  is  very 
much  like  snow,  and  the  more  a  man  has  of  it  the  less 
can  the  soil  produce.  It's  not  till  practical  life  melts  it 
that  the  ground  yields  anything.  Men  get  over  it  quicker 
in  some  kinds  of  business  than  in  others.  The  college 
sticks  longest  on  ministers  and  school-masters ;  next,  to 
lawyers,  not  much  to  doctors,  and  none  at  all  to  mer- 
chants and  gentlemen.  You  can't  afford  to  be  a  gentle- 
man, and  so  you  must  choose  among  other  callings." 

"  Can't  a  man,  Uncle  Eb,  be  a  gentleman  in  any  re- 
spectable calling  ?  " 

"  Oh,  dear,  no.  My  gentleman  must  take  all  his  time 
to  it,  spend  his  life  at  it,  be  jealous  of  everything  else. 
He  is  a  kind  of  perfect  man,  a  sort  of  chronometer  for 
other  men  to  keep  time  by.  One  is  enough  for  a  whole 


HIS   FIRST   AND   ONLY   NOVEL.  2/3 

town.  One  is  enough — two  would  be  a  superfluity,  and 
a  class  of  them  simply  a  nuisance.  A  gentleman  should 
have  feeling — but  should  hide  it.  People  of  much  senti- 
ment are  like  fountains,  whose  overflow  keeps  a  disagree- 
able puddle  about  them.  He  should  have  knowledge, 
but  not  like  your  educated  men  of  our  day,  whose  knowl- 
edge sings,  and  crows,  and  cackles  with  every  achieve- 
ment. His  knowledge  should  be  like  apples  in  autumn, 
hanging  silently  on  the  boughs — rich,  ripe,  and  still.  A 
gentleman  should  be  business-like  by  instinct.  Affairs  in 
his  hands  come  to  pass  silently  and  without  ado,  as 
Nature  compasses  her  results — the  vastest  range  and 
round  of  spring  work  making  less  noise  than  one  store 
or  shop.  I  tell  you,  Reuben,  a  gentleman  is  a  rare  speci- 
men. He  requires  so  much  in  the  making  that  few  are 
made.  .  .  .  He  must  be  so  fine  that  he  accomplishes 
more  while  doing  nothing  than  others  do  with  all  their 
bustle.  He  must  be  better  than  other  men  at  the  start, 
or  he  will  grow  rough  in  trying  to  mend  matters,  and  so 
be  like  the  best  of  common  men,  who  only  succeed  in 
getting  ready  to  live  when  it  is  time  for  them  to  die." 

There  was  a  world  of  practical  common-sense  in  old 
Uncle  Eb,  in  spite  of  his  crotchety  ways  and  love  of  ar- 
gument. What  a  pity  it  is  that  he  died  a  bachelor,  and 
that  he  has  left  unrecorded  his  appreciation  of  the  term 
— so  provocative  of  argument  and  disagreement — a  lady. 

The  outcome  of  Reuben's  consultation  with  his  uncle 


274      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

was  that  he  became  a  doctor ;  and  at  Uncle  Eb's  death 
he  inherited  a  comfortable  income  and  settled  down  at 
Norwood,  and  soon  found  his  professional  services  in 
great  demand. 

"  His  skill  consisted  in  persuading  men  to  get  well. 
Sickness  is  very  largely  the  want  of  will.  Everything  is 
brain.  There  is  thought  and  feeling,  not  only,  but  will ; 
and  will  includes  in  it  far  more  than  mental  philosophers 
think.  It  acts  universally,  now  as  upon  mind,  and 
then  just  as  much  upon  the  body.  It  is  another  name 
for  life-force.  Men  in  whom  this  life  or  will-power  is 
great  resist  disease  and  combat  it  when  attacked.  To 
array  a  man's  mind  and  will  against  his  sickness  is  the 
supreme  art  of  medicine.  Inspire  in  men  courage  and 
purpose,  and  the  mind-power  will  cast  out  disease.  He 
was  himself  the  best  medicine,  and  often  cured  by  his 
presence  those  whom  drugs  would  have  scarcely  helped. 
These  cures  through  the  spirit  of  the  patient  he  regarded 
as  far  the  most  skilful  and  philosophical.  .  .  .  '  Only 
the  imagination?'  he  said  to  a  nurse.  'That  is  enough. 
Better  suffer  in  bone  and  muscle  than  in  the  imagina- 
tion. If  the  body  is  sick,  the  mind  can  cure  it ;  but  if 
the  mind  itself  is  sick,  what  shall  cure  that  ?  ' ' 

The  doctor  prospered.  Had  he  been  a  poor  man  his 
character  would  in  time  have  brought  him  employment ; 
as  he  was  independent  of  his  profession,  his  services  were 
sought  by  all,  and  "  he  furnished  another  instance  of  the 


HIS   FIRST  AND   ONLY  NOVEL.  275 

willingness  of  men  to  aid  those  not  in  need,  while  those 
who  are  likely  to  starve  if  not  at  once  befriended  are  put 
on  a  long  probation." 

For  a  house-keeper  the  doctor  possessed  a  model  in 
Agate  Bissell,  remarkable  for  her  energy  and  conscien- 
tious fidelity,  a  very  despot  in  her  treatment  of  dirt  and 
disorder,  and,  notwithstanding  her  hard  manner  and  in- 
flexible precision,  possessed  of  a  depth  of  affection  ready 
to  be  bestowed  on  all  worthy  objects. 

The  village  is  interested  in  Dr.  Wentworth's  bachelor- 
dom,  becomes  excited  over  his  marriage,  and  criticises  his 
wife,  before  she  is  received  and  loved  as  the  doctor  him- 
self. Then  little  Rose  Wentworth  is  born,  and  the  event 
gives  an  opportunity  to  Uncle  Tommy  Taft,  the  village 
cooper,  philanthropist,  and  character,  whose  wife  is  re- 
garded as  second  only  in  importance  to  the  doctor  on 
these  occasions,  to  make  himself  known  to  the  reader, 
and  mildly  exasperating  to  Parson  Buell  and  Agate  Bis- 
sell, the  latter,  in  spite  of  the  doctor's  marriage,  still 
reigning  supreme  in  the  household. 

While  Barton  and  Alice  Cathcart  and  Rose  Went- 
worth are  growing  up,  the  latter  being  carefully  guarded 
during  many  a  mad  open-air  frolic  by  an  honest,  burly 
negro  named  Pete,  many  of  the  prominent  villagers  pass 
before  our  notice  ;  and  we  are  regaled  with  many  natural 
delights  in  flower-garden  and  forest,  sunshine  and  shower. 

There  is  big  Deacon  Jerry  Marble,  full  of   fun  and  ner- 


2/6      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

vous  risibility,  whether  in  church  or  out  of  it,  brimful  of 
good-nature  and  light-heartedness.  As  an  antidote,  he 
has  his  wife,  Polly — all  nerve,  bone,  and  skin — "so  thin 
that  smiles  slipped  off  her  head  easily  and  left  the  same 
anxious,  earnest  face."  Good  hearts  both,  though  of 
opposite  temperaments. 

Then  appears  good-natured,  jovial,  heavy-weighted 
Deacon  Trowbridge,  between  whom  and  Deacon  Marble 
Hiram  Beers,  the  practical  joker  and  wit  of  the  village, 
gets  up  a  climbing  contest  at  a  nutting  party,  to  the 
great  amusement  of  everybody  but  Polly  Marble,  whose 
horror  at  her  spouse's  undignified  position  in  the  tree-top 
was  not  to  be  silenced. 

A  night  fishing  scene,  in  which  'Biah  Cathcart,  Barton, 
Alice,  Rose,  and  Pete  take  part  is  enthusiastically  de- 
scribed, the  description  being  in  no  way  dampened,  or 
the  sport  spoiled,  either  by  Hiram  Beers'  banter  or  the 
thunder-storm  which  winds  up  the  night's  frolic.  All 
are  children  of  Nature,  and  remain  unharmed,  although 
Rachel  Cathcart 's  fears  are  excited  on  seeing  the  drenched 
condition  of  the  fishing  party  on  their  return  home. 

"'Oh,  father! '  said  Rachel,  '  it  is  wild  of  you  to  have 
these  children  out  on  such  a  night !  Come  in,  my  dar- 
lings ! '  But  Rose  and  Alice  were  evidently  too  much 
excited  and  happy  to  need  pity. 

"'Why,  Rachel,  do  you  suppose  people  catch  cold  when 
they  are  excited  like  these  children  ?  ' 


HIS  FIRST  AND   ONLY  NOVEL.  2/7 

"  '  But  what  would  Dr.  Wentworth  say  ?  ' 
"  '  Say  ?  Why,  he  would  say  that  such  an  experience 
was  better  than  a  dozen  volumes  of  books — that  it  would 
give  life  to  the  imagination,  that  it  would  give  the  children 
impressions  which  would  enlarge  their  whole  after-life — 
that's  what  he  would  say ! — and  if  he  had  been  along  him- 
self, he  would  have  enjoyed  it  better  than  any  of  us.  ... 
I  hope  never  to  get  over  being  young.  I  look  back  on 
this  night  as  if  I  had  been  walking  in  a  cave  full  of 
crystals.  I  shall  never  forget  it,  and  I'll  warrant  the  chil- 
dren never  will.  Such  things  clean  off  the  drudgery  and 
sameness  of  life,  and  reach  toward  a  deeper  meaning.'  " 
Speaking  of  Rose  and  Alice,  the  author  says : 
Is  there  in  life  a  fairer  sight  than  two  maidens,  just 
emerging  from  childhood,  twined  together  in  love,  gentle, 
strong,  sincere,  and  full  of  fancies-  ?  who  see  real  things  as 
if  they  were  visions  and  imaginary  things  as  if  they  were 
real  ?  whose  days  and  nights  flow  musical  as  a  meadow- 
brook,  between  green  banks,  and  over  a  bottom  rough, 
just  enough  to  give  flash  and  ripple  to  the  surface  ?  All 
the  simplicity  of  childhood  is  yet  theirs,  while  dawning 
duties  and  social  proprieties  begin  to  jut  out  like  the 
buds  in  early  spring !  How  beautiful  the  contrast  be- 
tween Alice,  sensitive,  reserved,  and  full  of  innate  dignity 
—whose  cheek  changed  color  to  her  feelings,  shifting  al- 
most as  the  colors  flash  from  a  humming-bird's  back  as 
he  quivers  among  flowers — and  Rose,  fair-skinned,  of  a 


LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   feEECHER. 


brown  hair  that  might  be  called  suppressed  auburn  —  free, 
frank,  strong,  and  loving  —  who  seemed  conscious  of  the 
life  and  meaning  of  every  living  thing  except  herself. 
She  had  that  perfect  health  which  produces  unconscious- 
ness of  self.  Alice  accepted  mirth,  but  never  created  it. 
Rose  sparkled  with  it.  Her  thoughts  moved  in  a  brill- 
iant atmosphere.  In  certain  of  her  moods,  events,  peo- 
ple, and  even  soulless  objects,  sparkled  with  gayety  and 
humor.  The  two  girls  might  be  called,  in  the  language 
of  art,  Light  and  Shadow. 

Dr.  Wentworth  delighted  to  narrate  to  the  children 
fables  of  Nature  —  "  fictions  that  under  every  form  what- 
soever still  tended  in  their  imagination  to  bring  Nature 
home  to  them  as  God's  wonderful  revelation,  vital  with 
sentiment  and  divine  truth." 

Rose's  love  of  Nature  seemed  at  times  to  be  a  great 
cause  of  anxiety  to  her  mother  and  Agate  Bissell. 
"  There  are  many  people  who  seem  to  regard  anxiety  as 
a  religious  duty.  They  seem  to  think  that  no  state  of 
mind  is  substantial  which  is  not  ballasted  with  cares." 
In  conversation  with  Mrs.  Polly  Marble,  Agate  asked  if 
the  Lord  in  his  Sovereignty  might  not  deal  gently  with 
young  people.  Was  not  that  the  meaning  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, "  He  will  carry  the  young  in  His  arms  ?  " 

"Agate,"  said  Polly,  "  I  always  say  that  it's  best  to  be 
on  the  sure  side.  It  never  does  harm  to  find  fault  with 
your  evidences,  'cause  if  they  are  real  you  won't  hurt  'em, 


HIS  FIRST  AND   ONLY  NOVEL.  279 

and  if  they  are  deceivin'  you,  you  will  be  apt  to  find  it 
out.  People  nowadays  git  religion  too  easy.  I  was  un- 
der conviction  nigh  about  two  months.  I  was  awfully 
striven  with  afore  I  give  up.  Young  people  now  seem  to 
git  along  too  easy,  I  say.  They  don't  bear  any  yoke,  nor 
carry  much  of  a  cross.  I  have  seen  folks  have  measles 
light,  and  scarlet  fever  so  easy  they  didn't  hardly  know 
it.  But  I  shall  never  be  made  to  believe  that  anybody 
took  religion  so  easy  that  they  didn't  know  they  had  it." 

"  Don't  you  sometimes  doubt  the  promises,"  said  Agate, 
"  when  you  see  how  children  turn  out  that's  well  brought 
up  ?  ...  I  don't  know — it's  a  mystery  to  me ! " 

"  A  mystery ! "  said  Aunt  Polly  Marble,  .  .  . 
"  there  is  no  mystery  about  it.  It's  all  election.  That 
does  it ! "  And  that  was  Mrs.  Marble's  solution  of  many 
a  difficulty. 

Barton  Cathcart,  meanwhile,  is  growing  apace,  men- 
tally and  physically,  and  after  the  exercise  of  a  great 
deal  of  self-help  in  the  acquirement  of  elementary  knowl- 
edge, he  at  length,  with  the  consent  of  his  father,  enters 
Amherst  College.  Before  this,  however,  it  has  become 
apparent  to  both  Rose  and  himself  that  something 
stronger  than  their  childhood's  affection  for  each  other 
is  coming  to  the  surface.  The  author  treats  his  readers 
to  a  chapter  on  Mental  Philosophy  dealing  with  the 
transitions  of  feelings  from  boyhood  and  girlhood  to 
manhood  and  womanhood  ;  and  after  three  years  we  are 


28O      LIFE  AND    WORK    OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

introduced  to  visitors  at  Norwood.  There  is  Frank 
Esel,  a  young  artist  with  plenty  of  money  and  a  rare 
facility  for  spending,  who  had  made  a  reputation  for 
himself  in  Norwood  by  stopping  Rose  Wentworth's  run- 
away horse  and  saving  her  life,  and  soon  afterward  makes 
the  discovery  that  he  is  a  fourth  cousin  to  the  Went- 
worths,  and  falls  in  love  with  Rose.  Also  Tom  Hey- 
wood,  from  Virginia,  comes  before  our  notice,  and  it  is 
not  long  before  Barton  Cathcart's  heart  begins  to  be 
troubled  and  to  throb  with  uneasiness  in  view  of  the  feel- 
ings which  it  is  evident  this  gentleman  entertains  toward 
Rose.  Barton  has  graduated  from  Amherst  with  suc- 
cess, and  he  is  now  in  charge  of  the  Norwood  Academy. 

An  extract  from  one  of  Tom  Heywood's  letters  to  his 
brother  Hal  is  interesting  as  a  Southerner's  comparison 
between  North  and  South,  based  on  his  own  experiences. 

"  I  am  studying,"  he  writes,  "  this  Yankee  people  with 
the  utmost  zest.  Of  course,  many  of  them  are  like  our 
own  folks.  Cultivated  people  are  always  more  or  less 
alike,  the  world  over.  On  that  very  account  one  studies 
the  middle  and  lower  classes  for  distinctive  characters,  as 
there,  if  anywhere,  is  apt  to  be  found  originality  and  ec- 
centricity. I  had  an  impression  that  the  rigor  of  Puritan 
morals,  and  a  coercive  public  sentiment,  held  everything 
here  down  to  set  patterns,  and  that  I  should  find  a 
dreary  sameness  of  a  kind  not  very  interesting.  But  the 
under  people  here  are  rich  in  peculiarities.  They  open 


HIS   FIRST   AND    ONLY   NOVEL.  28 1 

up  well  already.  In  the  South  there  is  more  liberty  of 
action,  and  in  the  North  of  thought.  Law  is  not  so 
strong  among  us.  A  population  thinly  scattered  through 
wide  territory  are  obliged  to  take  their  affairs  into  their 
own  hands,  and  are  less  likely  to  wait  for  redress  or  op- 
portunity for  the  slow  process  of  law.  Men  here  live  in 
attrition,  yet  universally  respect  the  law.  Among  the 
lower  classes  Law  is  put  instead  of  Religion.  Yesterday 
a  man  had  been  aggrieved  by  a  neighbor.  I  heard  him 
say,  in  a  great  passion,  '  I'll  have  the  law  of  him  if  there's 
any  justice  in  the  land.'  Had  it  been  in  Virginia,  the 
man  would  have  thrashed  the  offender  on  the  spot,  and 
settled  his  grievance  without  judge  or  jury." 

Rose  saves  Esel  the  pain  of  a  refusal  by  desiring  him 
to  continue  a  friend,  but  Heywood  probably  had  to  in- 
cur the  pain  which  had  been  spared  to  Esel.  Then  from 
the  peaceful  village  scenes  we  are  carried  into  the  war. 
"The  leading  thoughtful  political  men  of  South  Caro- 
lina .  .  .  were  fully  determined  at  all  hazards  to 
separate  from  the  North."  Heywood,  though  deploring 
the  contest,  hurries  off  to  take  his  place  on  the  Southern 
side.  The  assault  and  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter  takes 
place,  and  war  is  definitely  declared.  Norwood  re- 
sponds nobly,  and  Barton  Cathcart  leads  his  company 
to  add  to  the  ranks  of  the  North.  Agate  Bissell,  with 

o  * 

Rose  and  Alice,  later  take  the  field  as  nurses,  the  young 
girls  being  interested  in  both  sides  of  the  fight.  Alice, 

12* 


282      LIFE   AND   WORK    OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

while  praying  for  the  safety  of  her  brother,  is  obliged 
also  to  include  Hey  wood,  on  whom  she  has  secretly  be- 
stowed all  her  young  affections,  while  Rose  is  equally 
anxious  for  Barton,  though  by  a  misunderstanding  he 
has  not  yet  openly  declared  himself. 

An  interesting  description  of  the  fight  at  Gettysburg 
follows,  in  which  fight  poor  Tom  Heywood,  who  had 
hated  the  war,  but  was  forced  into  it,  is  killed.  His 
body  is  discovered  by  Alice,  and  interred.  Then,  in  spite 
of  the  grief  at  her  heart  and  the  hope  that  is  gone,  to  re- 
turn no  more,  she  goes  back  to  her  hospital  duties  and 
tender  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded. 

"  It  seems  fit  that  among  the  testimonies  of  a  nation's 
gratitude  some  recognition  should  be  given  to  this  rear- 
guard of  humanity.  At  least  it  would  be  a  wise  and 
comely  act  for  the  Government  of  this  Nation,  in  the 
Capital,  to  rear  a  monument  and  inscribe  it — 

TO 
THE    HEROIC   SURGEONS  AND  THE  NOBLE  WOMEN 

WHO 
Laid  down  their  lives  for  the  Nation. 

Barton,  who  is  now  General  Cathcart,  is  taken  pris- 
oner, and  is  rescued  by  Pete,  the  negro,  and  conveyed  to 
the  house  of  a  Quaker  farmer,  and  carefully  tended,  and 
where  Rose  and  her  father  are  erelong  in  attendance  on 


HIS   FIRST  AND  ONLY  NOVEL.  283 

him.  On  his  return  to  consciousness  Barton  and  Rose 
are  soon  of  one  accord  on  the  important  question  be- 
tween them,  and  the  long  weeks  of  his  recovery  are 
shortened  by  the  joys  of  love. 

After  two  years.  The  war  is  over,  and  we  are  back  in 
Norwood  to  witness  the  ceremony  that  is  to  unite  for 
evermore  these  two  young  loving  hearts.  And  then  the 
sudden  decease  of  Agate  Bissell  astounds  the  neighbors. 
For  scarcely  are  Rose  and  Barton  united  than  Agate 
bravely  takes  her  stand  and  becomes  Mrs.  Parson  Buell. 
"Only  Alice's  presence  was  wanting  to  make  the  day 
perfectly  happy." 

"  Alice,"  said  her  mother,  "  is  very  heart-sore.  Life 
goes  wearily  with  her.  But  she  has  determined  to  give 
her  life  to  the  instruction  of  the  poor  black  children. 
She  has  gone  to  Lynchburg,  where  his  parents  lived,  you 
know,  and  I  hope  she  is  happier  now.1' 

"  But  the  people  are  dispersing.  The  sun  is  just  set- 
ting. Some  linger,  and  seem  reluctant  to  leave.  If  you, 
too,  reader,  linger  and  feel  reluctant  to  leave  "Norwood," 
I  shall  be  rejoiced  and  repaid  for  the  long  way  over  which 
I  have  led  you." 

The  wish  of  the  author  has  been  attained.  When  one 
has  read  "  Norwood,"  he  wishes  to  return  to  it,  and  the 
oftener  he  returns  the  more  charms  he  will  find  in  the 
peaceful  scenes  and  communings  with  Nature  so  beauti- 
fully delineated. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

HIS   ART   AS   AN   ORATOR. 

The  Greatest  Orator  of  the  Century. — Characteristics  of  His  Oratory. — Ex- 
temporizing a  Sermon. — A  Reporter's  Experience. — Power  with  an 
Audience. — His  Great  Earnestness. — Thoughts  Rarely  committed  to 
Paper. — Doctrinal  Addresses. — Peculiarities  of  His  Lectures. — Never 
the  Same  Successively. — Weakness  in  Statistical  Matters. — His  Mi- 
metic Skill. — His  Last  Public  Address. — Congregational  Singing. — 
Eloquence  of  His  Prayers. — Always  dealt  with  Questions  of  the  Time. 
— Where  Materials  were  Obtained. — A  Curious  Autograph. — His 
Great  Lecture  Tour  in  the  West. — The  New  York  Independent  on 
Beecher. 

IT  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Mr.  Beecher  was  the 
greatest  orator  that  the  century  has  produced.  Others 
may  have  equalled  him  in  fluency  of  speech,  in  earnest- 
ness of  manner,  or  in  other  requisites  of  eloquence,  but 
no  man  has  equalled  him  in  great  range  of  thought,  in  the 
variety  of  topics  considered,  and  above  all  in  the  ability 
to  speak  with  swiftly  flowing  eloquence  upon  a  subject 
which  had  been  presented  but  a  few  moments  before  he 
rose  to  his  feet.  The  following  anecdote  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  his  wonderful  power  in  this  direction. 

One  of  the  reporters  of  the  Brooklyn  Eagle  was  sent 
one    Sunday   evening   a   few   years  ago   to  report    Mr. 


HIS  ART  AS  AN   ORATOR.  285 

Beecher's  sermon.  The  discourse  was  one  of  singular 
power,  freshness,  and  force,  and  the  reporter  was  more  than 
charmed  and  interested.  When  the  service  was  over  he 
encountered  Mr.  Beecher  at  the  foot  of  the  pulpit  stairs, 
and  knowing  the  small  store  he  set  upon  his  manuscript 
notes,  asked  him  if  he  would  be  good  enough  to  give 
them  to  him,  as  he  desired  to  preserve  them  as  an  auto- 
graphical  prize  and  as  a  memento  of  the  sermon.  "Well," 
said  the  Plymouth  Church  pastor,  as  he  fluttered  over  the 
half-dozen  sheets  of  note-paper,  "you  can  have  them,  but 
this  is  not  the  sermon  I  preached.  I  prepared  this  sermon 
intending  to  use  it ;  but  when  I  got  in  the  pulpit  I  got 
to  thinking  of  another  subject  and  preached  upon  that." 
He  gave  the  reporter  the  notes,  however,  very  willingly, 
seeming  to  care  nothing  for  them,  so  the  young  man  has 
the  notes  of  one  of  Mr.  Beecher's  unpreached  sermons. 

The  following  is  a  careful  analysis  of  Mr.  Beecher's  art 
as  an  orator  by  one  who  had  studied  him  carefully : 

For  more  than  half  a  century  he  spoke  in  public.  His 
addresses  were  on  diverse  subjects — political,  religious, 
educational,  agricultural,  charitable,  and  other.  He  was 
gifted  with  a  massive  frame,  a  fine  presence,  a  powerful 
and  well-modulated  voice,  and  an  impressive  demeanor. 
Whatever  he  said  bore  the  mark  of  earnestness.  He  threw 
himself  into  a  subject  impulsively.  His  diction  was  some- 
thing marvellous.  Although  he  never  spoke  from  manu- 
script, and  in  his  most  polished  addresses  relied  only  on 


286      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD  BEECHER. 

the  briefest  of  captions,  he  was  never  at  a  loss  for  a  word, 
never  failed  to  get  the  most  apt  expression. 

He  had  above  most  orators  the  power  to  sway  an  audi- 
ence as  he  saw  fit.  He  could  touch  and  arouse,  could 
move  to  tears  and  inspire  to  enthusiasm.  In  his  lighter 
and  more  genial  mood  he  would  bring  out  smiles  and 
bursts  of  most  hearty  laughter.  His  quaint  conceits 
would  often  appear  in  his  pulpit  utterances,  and  on  such 
occasions  his  enemies  accused  him  of  buffoonery  solely 
because  of  some  garbled  extracts  which  found  their  way 
into  print.  Read,  however,  with  the  context  as  they 
were  uttered,  their  true  meaning  and  purpose  were  at  once 
perceived.  He  dealt  less  in  imagery  or  word-painting 
than  in  illustration  and  analogy,  and  rarely  indulged  in 
quotations.  His  appeals  were  to  human  feeling  no  less 
than  to  human  reason. 

Ordinarily  he  spoke  slowly  and  with  deliberation,  but 
he  would  now  and  again  indulge  in  passionate  outbursts 
in  which  the  words  came  like  a  torrent.  Stenographers 
and  other  reporters  of  his  addresses  never  felt  quite  sure 
of  him.  He  would  proceed  for  some  minutes  at  the  rate 
of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  words  a  minute,  and 
then  would  suddenly  rise  to  double  that  speed.  The  re- 
porters, however,  had  one  compensation — Mr.  Beecher 
never  found  fault  with  their  reports. 

Nearly  all  of  his  addresses  were  extemporary,  in  the 
sense  that  he  had  little  or  no  notes  to  guide  him.  In  his 


HIS  ART  AS  AN   ORATOR.  287 

ordinary  addresses,  where  he  was  one  of  several  speakers 
at  a  meeting  or  assemblage,  he  would  listen  to  those  who 
preceded  him,  and  taking  as  a  text  some  one  utterance, 
would  construct  an  address  upon  that.  He  had,  to  a 
very  marked  degree,  the  ability  to  "  think  upon  his  feet," 
and  as  a  consequence  was  not  ruffled  by  interruptions. 
In  fact,  he  often  did  .better  after  being  interrupted  than 
before.  An  outside  remark  would  spur  him  on,  and  he 
would  often  use  it  to  the  discomfiture  of  the  person  utter- 
ing it.  Most  effective  instances  of  this  were  had  from 
time  to  time  in  Plymouth  Church  itself. 

He  prided  himself  on  having  made  the  pulpit  of  his 
church  a  free  platform.  From  it  spoke  the  heroes  of  the 
old  anti-slavery  fight,  with  Wendell  Phillips  in  the  van. 
There  it  was  that  they  raised  money  to  buy  the  liberty 
of  slaves.  It  re-echoed  with  a  welcome  to  Kossuth,  and 
with  appeals  for  the  oppressed  abroad  and  at  home. 
From  it  came  urgent  calls  for  charity,  for  education,  for 
freedom,  and  for  humanity.  No  good  cause  ever  found 
Mr.  Beecher  remiss.  His  heart,  his  purse,  and  his  voice 
responded  in  no  uncertain  or  half-hearted  way. 

His  doctrinal  addresses,  including  his  famous  Yale  lect- 
ures, were  gems  in  their  way.  The  thought  was  couched 
in  vigorous  language,  the  illustrations  were  most  varied, 
and  the  logical  sequence  was  perfect.  He  could  dress  an 
idea  in  most  intelligible  as  well  as  striking  garb,  and  his 
comparisons  were  fitting  as  well  as  admirable. 


288      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

He  was  in  great  demand  as  a  lecturer  all  over  the 
country,  and  was  always  sure  of  a  large  and  attentive  au- 
dience. People  would  go  to  hear  him  deliver  the  same 
lecture  again  and  again.  But  it  was  never  the  same  lect- 
ure. The  -topic  was  the  same,  but  the  language,  the 
illustrations,  and  the  method  of  reasoning  were  different. 
He  never  committed  a  lecture  to  memory,  but  relied  on 
the  inspiration  of  the  moment  to  guide  him  in  his  man- 
ner of  viewing  or  discussing  his  subject.  The  lecture 
would  not  be  the  same  on  two  successive  evenings.  He 
kept  abreast  of  the  times,  took  a  lively  interest  in  current 
topics,  and  would  weave  in  his  discourse  illustrations  or 
incidents  suggested  by  the  occurrences  of  the  day. 

It  was  on  festive  occasions  that  his  geniality  in  dis- 
course found  full  vent.  At  public  dinners,  notably  those 
of  the  New  England  Society  in  New  York  for  many  years, 
he  was  looked  upon  as  the  especial  guest.  He  would  at 
one  moment  set  the  tables  in  a  roar,  and  next  moment 
would  thrill  them  to  the  quick  by  an  appeal  to  their  sym- 
pathy. It  was  a  tribute  to  his  ability  that  the  dinner  com- 
mittee generally  managed  so  that  Mr.  Beecher  was  the 
last  speaker.  Everyone  waited  to  the  end  in  order  to  hear 
him  speak.  Presidents,  governors,  and  political  magnates 
would  precede  him,  but  his  advent  would  be  anxiously 
waited  for.  He  had  no  set  speech  for  such  occasions.  At 
one  time  the  burden  of  his  talk  would  be  good-natured 
raillery ;  at  another  it  would  be  some  earnest  plea  for 


HIS  ART  AS  AN   ORATOR.  289 

progress  or  for  charity.  Whatever  it  was,  it  was  well  said 
and  well  received. 

In  his  political  addresses,  Mr.  Beecher  rarely  ventured 
on  the  domain  of  statistics,  although  when  he  did  so  he 
showed  great  art  in  his  handling  of  figures.  His  appeals 
were  usually  to  the  feelings  and  the  consciences  of  his 
auditors.  He  spoke  in  every  Presidential  campaign,  and 
in  many  of  the  minor  contests,  among  them  that  for  muni- 
cipal reform  in  his  own  city.  In  recent  years  his  most 
noted  addresses  of  the  kind  were  the  memorable  one  in 
the  Garfield  campaign,  in  which  he  fairly  flayed  by  his 
sarcasm  the  brood  of  calumniators  whose  argument  con- 
sisted in  chalking  the  figures  329  on  pavements  and  cellar 
doors;  that  in  the  Cooper  Union,  wherein  he  urged  the 
renomination  of  President  Arthur,  and  his  Brooklyn 
Rink  speech  in  favor  of  Cleveland. 

Mr.  Beecher  had  no  fixed  formula  for  beginning  an 
address.  He  would  sometimes  open  up  his  subject  with 
his  conclusion,  and  gradually  show  the  train  of  reasoning 
leading  to  it.  At  other  times  he  would  begin  by  an- 
nouncing certain  undisputed  facts,  and  lead  by  easy 
stages  to  the  result.  He  bound  himself  by  no  set  rules, 
and  he  followed  none.  He  used  few  gestures. 

His  play  of  feature  and  his  mimetic  skill  were  so  re- 
markable that  it  was  often  said  of  him  that  he  would 
have  been  a  wonderful  actor  had  he  chosen  that  calling. 
He  felt  too  strongly  what  he  said,  however,  to  have  sim- 


LIFE  AND   WORK  OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 


ulated  a  passion.  When  he  pleaded  for  a  cause  he  did  so 
with  his  whole  being.  His  voice  would  grow  husky,  his 
frame  would  tremble,  and  tears  would  follow  one  another 
down  his  cheeks.  His  audiences,  listening  with  rapt  at- 
tention, would  feel  as  he  did,  and  be  drawn  the  closer 
toward  him.  His  spell  was  magnetic. 

Another  writer  says  : 

His  last  public  address  was  delivered,  within  the  week 
in  which  he  was  stricken,  in  favor  of  the  high  license  bill. 
He  was  "  a  temperance  man  ;  "  he  had  been  generally  "  a 
total  abstinent  ;  "  but  he  saw  with  the  general  intelligent 
opinion  of  the  community  that  the  cause  of  temperance 
here  and  now  could  be  best  served  by  high  license.  This 
was  a  striking  illustration  of  his  good-sense  and  of  that 
ready  sympathy  which  was  generally  in  accord  with  the 
best  opinion  around  him.  Indeed,  the  average  good-sense, 
the  humane  impulse,  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  country, 
found  its  voice  in  him.  His  national  pride  was  stirred 
by  the  consciousness  that  the  American  republic  was  "  the 
reign  of  the  common  people."  The  people  heard  him 
gladly,  because  he  was  a  sturdy,  strong,  inspiring  preacher, 
not  of  theological  doctrines,  but  of  righteousness  of  life. 

When  he  took  charge  of  Plymouth  Church,  the  first 
thing  he  insisted  on  was  congregational  singing.  The 
organ  was  not  a  very  fine  instrument,  but  it  did  its  duty, 
and  a  large  volunteer  choir  led  the  singing  —  at  first,  but 
after  a  while  the  congregation  was  the  choir  and  the  organ 


HIS  ART  AS  AN  ORATOR.  2<)t 

the  leader.  Mr.  Beecher  had  the  pulpit  cut  away,  and 
on  the  platform  placed  a  reading-desk.  In  this  way  he 
was  plainly  visible  from  crown  to  toe,  and  whether  preach- 
ing or  sitting,  every  motion  was  in  full  view  of  the  crowded 
assemblage.  Instead  of  resting  a  pale  forehead  on  a  pallid 
hand  and  closing  his  eyes  as  if  in  silent  prayer  while  his 
people  sung,  Mr.  Beecher  held  his  book  in  his  red  fist 
and  sung  with  all  his  might.  Although  not  a  finished 
singer,  he  had  a  melodious  bass  voice,  and  he  sung  with 
understanding.  As  he  did  so  his  eyes  would  take  in  the 
scene  before  him,  and  it  needed  no  wizard's  skill  to  de- 
tect its  power  over  him.  Ever  impressible  and  as  full  of 
intuition  as  a  woman,  he  felt  the  presence  of  men  and 
women.  Time  and  again  the  tenor  of  his  discourse  was 
altered  at  the  sight  of  a  face.  Incidents  of  the  moment 
often  shaped  the  discourse  of  the  hour.  He  laid  great 
stress  on  the  influence  of  congregational  singing.  It 
brought  the  audience  to  a  common  feeling.  It  made 
them  appreciate  that  they  were  not  only  in  the  house  of 
worship,  but  that  they  were  there  as  worshippers,  part  of 
their  duty  being  to  sing  praises  to  the  Most  High. 

His  prayers,  too,  attracted  great  attention.  The  keen- 
est eye,  the  most  sensitive  ear,  never  detected  an  approach 
to  irreverence  in  Mr.  Beecher's  manner  in  prayer.  He 
prayed,  it  is  true,  as  a  respectful  son  would  petition  a 
loving  and  indulgent  father.  It  was  noticed  that  he 
addressed  his  prayers  very  largely  to  the  Saviour.  In 


292      LIFE  AND   WORK  OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

his  sermons  it  was  the  love  of  Christ  on  which  he  dwelt. 
It  seemed  as  if  he  delighted  to  put  away  all  thought  of 
the  Judge,  and  to  keep  always  present  the  tenderness  of 
the  Father  and  the  affection  of  the  Elder  Brother.  The 
little  church  was  always  overcrowded.  Hundreds  ap- 
plied in  vain  for  seats.  It  became  the  fashion  to  "  go  to 
hear  Beecher."  Thousands  went  to  criticise  and  ridicule. 
Thousands  went  in  simple  curiosity.  It  was  soon  the 
affectation  to  look  down  upon  him.  He  was  called  boor- 
ish, illiterate,  ungrammatical,  uncultivated,  fit  for  the 
common  people  only,  and  a  temporary  rush-light.  Dr. 
Cox,  an  old  friend  of  Lyman  Beecher,  to  whom  the 
new-comer  expected  to  turn  for  advice  as  to  a  father, 
said  :  "  I  will  give  that  young  man  six  months  in  which 
to  run  out."  When  the  church  was  burned  the  trustees 
put  up  an  immense  temporary  structure  on  Pierrepont 
Street,  near  Fulton,  which  they  called  the  Tabernacle. 
There  every  Sunday  immense  crowds  of  strangers  and 
visitors  from  other  parishes  assembled  to  listen  to  Mr. 
Beecher. 

Already  the  newspapers  had  discovered  the  pith  of  the 
preacher  and  made  him  noted  in  the  land.  His  utter- 
ances were  never  commonplace,  his  manner  was  always 
fresh,  his  illustrations  ever  new.  He  never  avoided  is- 
sues. Indeed,  it  was  charged  that  he  was  sensational  be- 
cause he  talked  and  taught  about  the  topic  of  the  hour. 
He  rarely  preached  a  doctrinal  sermon,  and  when  he  did 


HIS  ART  AS   AN   ORATOR.  293 

there  was  a  kind  of  explanatory  protest  with  it,  as  much 
as  to  say :  "  I  don't  really  believe  I  know  anything  about 
this,  but  it  can't  do  any  harm."  At  first  he  dealt  largely 
in  practical  lessons  to  the  young  men  who  formed  a  large 
part  of  his  congregations.  It  was  often  remarked  that 
while  the  proportion  in  other  churches  was  five  women 
to  one  man,  in  the  Tabernacle,  and  later  in  the  Plymouth 
Church,  the  proportion  was  reversed.  This  is  accounted 
for  by  two  facts — young  men,  clerks,  students,  and  those 
who  lived  in  boarding-houses,  felt  at  home  in  that  church, 
and  the  hotels  of  New  York  sent  over  hundreds  every 
Sunday,  who  considered  hearing  "  Beecher  preach  "  one 
of  the  essentials  of  their  business  in  New  York.  At  all 
events,  there  they  were,  and  Mr.  Beecher  made  it  a  rule 
of  his  life-work  to  address  himself  to  them.  He  never 
bombarded  the  Jews,  he  left  the  heathen  to  their  normal 
guardians,  he  avoided  a  decision  of  questions  raised  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden,  and  left  the  sheep  and  the  goats  of  an- 
cient history  to  follow  the  call  of  their  shepherd.  His 
flock  was  before  him.  His  duty  was  to  care  for  the  men 
and  women  who  sat  in  the  pews  of  his  church  and  thronged 
its  aisles  and  packed  its  galleries.  He  was  human,  and 
avowed  his  love  for  man.  Their  weaknesses  were  his,  and 
he  called  on  them  to  seek  a  common  physician. 

The  average  person  who  came  to  New  York  for  the 
first  time,  no  matter  what  might  be  his  religion  (if  he  had 
any),  would  no  more  think  of  returning  home  without 


294      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

hearing  Mr.  Beecher  than  he  would  neglect  seeing  Cen- 
tral Park  or  the  Statue  of  Liberty.  Men  who  had  not 
been  to  church  since  their  boyhood  went  to  hear  the 
great  preacher. 

"  I  have  known  visitors  to  spend  Saturday  night  in 
gambling  hells  and  other  wicked  places,"  said  an  hotel 
clerk  in  New  York,  while  speaking  of  this  matter,  "  and 
then  sit  up  for  hours,  so  as  to  be  sure  to  be  in  time  to  hear 
Mr.  Beecher.  At  first  it  used  to  strike  me  as  very  odd 
to  hear  a  man  whom  I  knew  to  be  a  sport,  and  who  held 
religion  in  contempt,  talking  about  going  to  church.  And 
they  seemed  to  take  such  interest  in  it,  too,  and  were  so 
particular  about  being  called  in  time.  When  they  re- 
turned they  talked  about  the  sermon  in  such  a  way  that 
I  could  see  that  Mr.  Beecher  had  touched  a  tender  spot 
in  these  hard  hearts.  I  remember  that  this  was  the  case 
a  few  years  ago  with  Mike  McDonald,  the  famous  Chicago 
gambler.  He  had  been  out  all  night,  and  got  in  a  little 
before  daylight.  He  remarked  that  he  had  a  great  desire 
to  hear  Mr.  Beecher,  and  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  do 
so  that  day ;  but  he  knew  that  if  he  should  go  to  bed  it 
would  be  hard  work  getting  up.  For  that  reason  he  sat 
up  and  opened  several  bottles  of  champagne  as  a  means 
of  killing  time.  I  have  no  doubt  but  in  this  way  Mr. 
Beecher  reached  a  number  of  such  sinners,  many  of  whom 
he  brought  to  a  realization  of  their  moral  condition.  I 
knew  another  instance  where  a  man,  while  seeing  New 


HIS   ART   AS   AN   ORATOR.  295 

York  one  Saturday  night  by  gas-light,  got  very  much  in- 
toxicated. He  remembered  that  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  hear  Mr.  Beecher.  He  stopped  drinking  about 
midnight,  so  that  he  might  sober  up  and  attend  Plymouth 
Church  next  morning.  Had  it  not  been  for  this,  there's 
no  telling  to  what  excesses  the  man  might  have  gone." 

General  Horatio  C.  King  of  Brooklyn  has  in  his  col- 
lection of  autographs  an  interesting  scrap  from  Mr. 
Beecher's  pen  illustrating  his  manner  of  work.  To  it  is 
attached  a  ticket  to  the  platform  of  the  Academy  of 
Music,  Brooklyn,  on  the  occasion  of  the  address  of  Mr. 
Beecher  on  "  The  Issues  of  the  Canvass,"  Friday  evening, 
October  9,  1868.  The  scrap  of  writing  contains  the  head- 
ings made  by  Mr.  Beecher  for  his  address.  They  are 
written  in  a  bold  hand,  apparently  with  a  quill  pen,  and 
many  of  the  words  are  underscored.  The  headings  are 
as  follows :  I. — Origin  of  party — historic  logic  of  our 
history  and  principles.  II. — What  has  it  done  to  de- 
serve well  of  the  people  ?  III. — What  charges  are  brought 
against  it  ?  (i) — Not  restoring  the  Union — delaying  for 
party  reasons.  (2) — Oppressive  taxes.  (3) — It  is  refresh- 
ing to  hear  Mayor  Hoffman  express  his  conscience  on  ex- 
travagance in  public  moneys.  IV. — By  whom  are  they 
accused  ?  Who  is  it  that  proposes  to  take  their  place  and 
finish  the  work  of  Liberty  ?  (i) — Their  relation  to  every 
event  and  step  gained  by  war.  (2) — Their  proposed 
remedy.  Overturn  all  that  Congress  has  done.  Reverse 


296      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

legislation.  Throw  down  State  enactments.  Send  back 
Senators  and  Representatives.  Remand  Southern  States 
to  turmoil  and  confusion. 

Upon  the  platform  Mr.  Beecher,  with  these  few  notes, 
under  the  inspiration  of  the  moment,  delivered  a  splendid 
address,  talking  two  hours  or  more. 

His  greatest  lecture  tour  was  through  the  West  in  the 
winter  and  spring  of  1877.  He  was  absent  about  two 
months,  speaking  in  many  of  the  leading  cities  of  that 
section  of  the  country.  His  trip  was  a  tremendous  ova- 
tion. The  size  of  the  audiences  was  measured  by  the  ca- 
pacity of  the  halls  in  which  he  spoke.  Instances  were 
frequent  of  people  travelling  hundreds  of  miles  to  hear 
him  lecture.  During  the  trip  he  spoke  at  least  once  a  day, 
and  often  three  times.  While  in  the  city  where  he  lect- 
ured, he  would  visit  some  public  institution,  and  would 
be  called  upon  for  a  short  speech.  In  spite  of  the  tre- 
mendous strain  of  constant  journeying  and  speaking  he 
preserved  his  health  and  strength,  and  returned  home  ap- 
parently as  fresh  as  the  day  he  went  away.  It  was  with- 
out exception  the  most  wonderful  lecture  tour  ever  wit- 
nessed in  this  country. 

An  editorial  in  the  New  York  Independent  pays  the 
following  tribute  to  his  oratory  : 

In  the  death  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  the  American  pulpit  loses 
one  of  the  greatest  men  that  ever  stood  in  it,  and  perhaps  the 
greatest  genius  that  America  has  yet  produced. 


HIS  ART  AS  AN   ORATOR. 


There  lies  before  us  the  picture  of  the  young,  dark-haired  man 
who  came  to  Brooklyn  from  Indianapolis  more  than  forty  years 
ago.  We  recall  the  fervor  and  brilliancy  of  his  oratory.  He  shot 
suddenly  into  the  sky,  brilliant  as  a  meteor,  but  with  a  light  fixed 
and  steady  as  the  sun.  Plymouth  Church  became  immediately 
famous,  the  Mecca  of  every  pilgrim.  That  young  man  had  intro- 
duced a  new  style  of  preaching,  had  put  a  fresh  genuineness  into 
the  Gospel,  had  discovered  a  manliness  in  religion  ;  and  he  uttered 
an  appeal  which  went  to  every  heart.  For  decade  after  decade 
there  was  no  decay  of  his  power.  It  is  difficult  to  tell  in  what  his 
power  did  or,  rather,  did  not  consist.  It  was  in  his  whole  nature. 
He  was  in  every  direction  a  genius. 

In  the  first  place,  he  was  a  man  of  infinite  common-sense.  He 
looked  all  round  things,  and  then  he  went  to  the  centre  of  them. 
He  said  the  plain,  simple  thing  that  everybody  could  understand. 
He  was  not  deceived  by  the  cant  and  conventionalities  that  sur- 
round a  thought,  an  idea,  a  duty,  or  a  religious  service  ;  but  he 
put  his  touch  on  the  very  core  of  things.  He  did  not  ask  other 
men  what  was  truth,  but  he  looked  for  himself,  and  what  he  saw 
he  told.  It  was  always  fresh,  it  was  sometimes  strange.  Thus  he 
had  originality.  He  borrowed  no  judgments  or  opinions.  He  did 
not  mind  if  he  contradicted  the  world.  He  had  that  superb  con- 
fidence that  knew  that  his  judgment  might  be  worth  more  than  the 
judgment  of  a  million  men.  Because  his  head  was  higher  than 
some  other  men's,  his  vision  apparently  was  farther  and  truer  than 
that  of  all  the  rest.  So  he  spoke  with  authority  that  commanded 
assent.  Not  that  every  conclusion  was  true  —  that  is  not  given  to 
man  ;  but  his  conclusions  carried  almost  more  than  mortal  weight. 

Then  there  was  his  mighty  enthusiasm.  Enthusiasm  is  the  chief 
qualification  of  a  leader.  It  is  not  scholarship  alone  or  sound 
judgment  that  makes  progress  or  drives  a  captive  world  before  it, 


298      LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

but  enthusiasm.  No  other  endowment  is  so  important  for  a  leader. 
Here  is  the  magnetism  we  talk  about.  Mr.  Beecher  was  overflow- 
ing with  enthusiasm.  What  he  knew  or  believed,  he  felt,  and  was 
determined  that  other  people  should  feel  it  also.  Here  comes  a 
good  part  of  the  courage  which  a  leader  has.  Mr.  Beecher  had  a 
leonine  bravery.  He  was  not  afraid  of  man  or  the  Devil.  With  what 
superb  self-forge tfulness  and  might  did  he  attack  current  notions 
which  dishonored  the  character  of  God,  or  denounce  the  proud 
and  apparently  invincible  monster  of  slavery  !  How  heroic  was 
his  defence  of  America  before  the  mad  mobs  of  England  in  the 
darkest  hours  of  our  civil  war  !  Not  another  man  living  did  or 
could  have  done  his  service.  And  he  did  it  all  with  such  uncon- 
scious ease,  with  no  apparent  effort  of  logic,  rhetoric,  or  oratory. 
What  he  said  became  evident  when  he  said  it,  with  no  compulsion 
of  argument  and  no  illusion  of  eloquence. 

With  this  was  joined  the  most  exquisite  poetic  nature  that  ora- 
tor ever  possessed.  Every  phase  of  nature  was  beautiful  to  him. 
Every  trait  in  man  was  familiar  to  him.  All  this  store  of  insight 
was  part  of  the  material  of  his  thought.  It  was  natural  to  him  to 
speak  in  pictures.  He  never  overlaid  an  argument  with  ornament. 
The  ornament  was  in  the  argument.  The  two  were  fused  together. 
The  glory  was  in  the  gold.  The  spirit  was  in  the  wheels. 

It  was  worth  crossing  the  ocean  to  hear  him  in  his  prime.  Such 
a  voice  as  he  had  !  It  was  sweet,  mellow,  most  delicate  and  rich 
in  its  intonations,  now  moving  steadily  along  a  low  level  of  tone, 
sinking  into  a  tender  pathos,  bubbling  over  in  some  quick  sally  of 
mirth  or  humor,  and  then  swelling  out  in  a  mighty  volume  of  force 
that  seemed  to  crash  against  the  roof.  Every  sympathy  and  noble 
passion  was  appealed  to — reason,  laughter,  tears  answered  him  in 
turn,  with  an  infinite  variety  of  sentiment  and  feeling.  It  is  not  con- 
ceivable that  he  could  ever  have  wearied  a  hearer.  Every  moment 


HIS  ART  AS  AN   ORATOR.  299 

was  fresher  than  the  last.  There  was  an  utter  absence  of  formality, 
not  the  least  suspicion  of  art,  the  utter  naturalness  which  naturally 
said  noble  things,  beautiful  things,  even  comical  things — not  to  be 
comical,  but  to  lighten  the  thought,  and  make  the  good  seem  more 
true.  When  he  was  speaking  no  one  thought  of  the  man,  but  only 
of  the  thing  he  said,  and  everyone  went  home  to  wonder  at  the 
power  that  could  do  such  marvels  with  such  infinite  ease.  As  we 
look  back  upon  him,  it  is  that  infinite  ease  with  which  he  worked 
that  carries  the  evidence  of  his  genius — simply,  he  did  what  other 
men  could  not,  because  he  was  gifted  with  the  power. 

His  impress  is  on  the  country,  in  religious  thought,  in  method  of 
preaching,  in  all  the  social  and  political  progress  we  have  made. 
The  country  can  never  forget  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  It  has  not 
yet  recorded  a  greater  name.  The  generation  is  fortunate  that  has 
seen  the  method  of  such  genius.  We  follow  him  to  the  grave  with 
infinite  admiration  and  unspeakable  sorrow.  Much  has  he  said  of 
the  love  and  the  mercy  of  God.  To  the  mercy  and  love  of  God  he 
has  committed  his  soul,  and  our  prayer  follows  his  bier. 

Allusion  has  been  made  in  a  previous  chapter  to  the 
successful  effort  of  Mr.  Beecher  to  raise  money  necessary 
to  secure  the  freedom  of  a  slave  child.  The  occurrence 
was  a  fine  illustration  of  the  power  of  his  oratory,  and  is 
admirably  told  by  a  biographer  of  Rose  Terry  Cooke. 
The  writer  says  : 

"  Miss  Terry  happened  to  attend  Plymouth  Church  one 
morning  when  the  pastor  brought  upon  the  platform  a 
little  colored  child  who  was  to  be  returned  to  slavery  un- 
less a  certain  sum  of  money  could  be  paid  for  her  at  once 
— Mr.  Beecher  undertaking  to  raise  that  money  in  his 


3OO      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

church  and  set  the  child  free.  As  he  told  the  story  of 
her  little  life  and  wrongs,  in  his  inimitable  manner,  every 
heart  was  harrowed,  none  more  so  than  that  of  Rose,  who 
was  half  wild  with  excitement,  wrought  to  a  fever  of  pity 
and  horror ;  and  every  purse  flew  open,  and  Rose  had  no 
purse  about  her.  But  on  her  hand — a  white  and  tiny 
hand — was  a  ring  she  valued,  a  ring  with  a  single  fine  opal 
in  its  setting — if  it  had  been  the  Orloff  diamond  it  would 
have  made  no  difference,  it  was  all  she  had  when  the  box 
came  round,  and  she  took  it  off  and  dropped  it  in.  It 
chanced  that  the  ring  exactly  fitted  one  of  the  fingers  of 
the  little  brown  hand,  and  Mr.  Beecher  gave  it  to  the 
child  in  token  of  her  freedom  and  her  friends,  as  the 
money  raised  was  amply  sufficient  to  purchase  her  safety  ; 
and  presently  advertising  for  information  concerning  the 
giver  of  the  ring,  he  christened  the  child  into  the  new  life 
with  the  name  of  Rose.  If  the  reader  should  ever  see  a 
painting  by  Eastman  Johnson,  called  the  '  Freedom 
Ring,'  where  a  child  sits  on  a  tiger-skin  and  looks  curi- 
ously and  gladly  at  a  jewel  on  her  hand,  it  is  this  incident 
which  it  commemorates." 

One  who  knew  him  intimately  writes  as  follows  con- 
cerning him : 

He  was  the  most  remarkable  preacher  of  his  time,  the 
most  popular,  the  most  influential.  His  spoken  and  his 
printed  words  have  been  heard  and  read  by  many  mill- 
ions of  his  fellow-men.  It  is  clear  that  he  did  not 


HIS   ART   AS   AN   ORATOR.  303 

achieve  his  great  success  without  much  deliberate  calcu- 
lation. He  studied  other  preachers,  but  he  studied  still 
more  carefully  himself.  Health  seeming  to  him  the  prime 
condition  of  good  'preaching,  he  sought  to  realize  the 
most  perfect  health  imaginable  in  his  own  body,  and  his 
success  was  very  great.  He  was  particularly  careful  of 
the  condition  of  his  body  on  his  preaching  days.  His 
Sundays  were  ascetic.  He  allowed  himself  only  so  much 
food  as  would  prevent  faintness.  Those  who  met  him 
Saturdays  in  the  print-shops  and  picture-galleries  often 
imagined  that  his  Sunday  sermon  was  already  written,  or 
that  he  would  trust  to  luck  for  it.  They  were  wrong  in 
either  case.  It  was  not  written.  But  Mr.  Beecher  was 
loafing  upon  principle.  Saturday  was  always  his  most 
careless  day.  It  was  so  that  he  prepared  himself  for  the 
morrow's  work.  His  Sunday  morning  sermon  was  not 
sketched  (it  was  very  seldom  written)  till  Sunday  morn- 
ing, nor  his  evening  sermon  till  the  afternoon.  His 
system  was  to  keep  himself  full  by  reading  and  by  ob- 
servation, and  then,  the  subject  once  chosen,  it  became 
magnetic  to  the  multitude  of  observations  and  ideas  with 
which  his  mind  was  stored.  In  looking  over  the  vol- 
umes of  "Plymouth  Pulpit"  the  first  impression  we  receive 
is  of  the  astonishing  variety  of  subjects  treated  ;  the  next 
is  of  the  variety  of  treatment — the  preacher's  prodigality 
of  perception  and  imagination.  The  sermons  have  little 
logical  connection  or  organic  unity.  Their  strength  is  in 


304      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

the  parts  rather  than  in  the  wholes.  They  abound  in 
illustrations,  and  there  are  bursts  of  stormy  eloquence. 
These  give  the  hearers  their  impression.  Mr.  Beecher 
was  always  given  to  illustrations,  but  he  used  fifty  in  his 
maturity  where  he  used  one  in  his  youth.  He  was  always 
seeking  for  analogies  in  his  walks  about  town  and  in  his 
rambles  in  the  country,  and  they  returned  to  him  when 
needed,  and  became  the  spontaneous  method  of  his 
thought. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

GEMS  FROM  PULPIT  UTTERANCES. 

Examples  of  His  Oratorical  Power. — Striking  Passages  culled  from  the 
Abundance. — How  to  speak  of  the  Absent. — Ideal  Faith. — The 
True  Plan  of  Life.  — "  The  Church  has  been  so  Fearful  of  Amuse- 
ments that  the  Devil  has  had  the  Care  of  Them.'' — Majesty  in 
Anger. — Churches  as  Mutual  Insurance  Companies. — A  Babe  is  a 
Mother's  Anchor. — Overplus  of  Everything  but  Punishments. — 
Religion  with  some  Men  like  a  Church-bell,  to  be  Rung  only  on 
Sacred  Occasions. — The  Bible  and  its  Commentators. — Truths  of 
the  Bible  Like  Gold  in  the  Soil. —  Character,  Like  Porcelain,  must  be 
painted  Before  Glazing. — A  Lie  Always  needs  a  Truth  fora  Handle. 

MR.  BEECHER'S  first  sermon  to  the  congregation  of 
Plymouth  Church  has  been  given  in  a  previous  chapter, 
and  the  last  sermon  he  preached  will  be  referred  to  in  a 
later  one.  In  the  forty  years  intervening  between  these 
two  productions  his  sermons  and  lectures  abounded  in 
thoughts  and  expressions  such  as  have  fallen  from  the 
lips  of  no  man  since  the  days  of  Shakespeare.  To  show 
the  matchless  character  of  his  oratory,  nothing  could  be 
better  than  a  selection  from  these  utterances. 

About  the  year  1856  a  member  of  Plymouth  Church 
conceived  the  happy  idea  of  making  notes  of  some  of  the 
most  striking  passages  in  Mr.  Beecher's  sermons.  The 


306      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

notes  became  so  numerous  that  they  were  published  in  a 
volume  under  the  title  of  "  Life  Thoughts."  The  book 
had  an  extensive  sale  and  a  wide  popularity,  and  a  second 
volume  was  issued  a  few  years  after  the  first.  From  these 
and  other  volumes  a  few  of  the  most  striking  sentences 
have  been  selected.  Unfortunately,  there  is  so  much  of 
the  best,  so  great  a  wealth  of  expression,  so  much  of  practi- 
cal value,  that  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  endeavor  to  select 
any  of  the  fruits  when  there  are  so  many  luscious  and 
ripe  hanging  before  our  eyes.  We  must  shake  the  tree 
and  gather  up  those  that  fall. 

When  the  absent  are  spoken  of,  some  will  speak  gold 
of  them,  some  silver,  some  iron,  some  lead,  and  some 
always  speak  dirt,  for  they  have  a  natural  attraction  tow- 
ard what  is  evil,  and  think  it  shows  penetration  in 
them.  As  a  cat  watching  for  mice  does  not  look  up 
though  an  elephant  goes  by,  so  they  are  so  busy  mousing 
for  defects  that  they  let  great  excellences  pass  them  un- 
noticed. I  will  not  say  it  is  not  Christian  to  make  beads 
of  others'  faults,  and  tell  them  over  every  day ;  I  say  it 
is  infernal.  If  you  want  to  know  how  the  devil  feels, 
you  do  know  if  you  are  such  an  one. 


Our  best  actions  are  often  those  of  which  we  are  un- 
conscious, but  this  can  never  be  unless  we  are  always 
yearning  to  do  good. 


GEMS   FROM    PULPIT   UTTERANCES.  307 

There  are  many  people  who  are  so  refined  in  their 
tastes — and  by  their  refinement  I  mean  the  passage  of  a 
thing  from  a  gross  form  to  its  evanishing  point  in  the  im- 
material— that  they  live  in  the  ideal  rather  than  in  the 
actual.  Such  have  an  aesthetical  faith.  They  have  so  cul- 
tivated their  eye  for  colors  that  they  can  almost  see  the 
gleaming  of  the  precious  stones  in  the  wall  of  heaven  ;  and 
they  have  taught  their  ear  so  to  appreciate  harmonious 
sounds  that  they  can  almost  hear  the  celestial  bells  ring- 
ing sweet  invitation  to  them  ;  and  they  have  so  strength- 
ened and  purified  their  social  natures  that  the  fiery  edges 
of  heavenly  affection  almost  touch  theirs,  as  cloud  light- 
ning touches  cloud  lightning.  How  wretched  will  such 
be,  when  through  death  they  really  enter  the  realm  of 
the  invisible,  to  find  that  they  have  failed  of  the  highest 
faith,  the  faith  of  the  moral  nature,  which  alone  will  ad- 
mit them  to  the  companionship  of  God  ! 


You  know  how  the  heart  is  subject  to  freshets ;  you 
know  how  the  mother,  who,  always  loving  her  child,  yet, 
seeing  in  it  some  new  wile  of  affection  will  catch  it  up 
and  cover  it  with  kisses,  and  break  forth  in  a  rapture  of 
loving.  Such  a  kind  of  heart-glow  fell  from  the  Saviour 
upon  that  young  man  who  said  to  Him,  "  Good  Master, 
what  good  thing  shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  eternal 
life?"  It  is  said,  "Then  Jesus,  beholding  him,  loved 

him." 

'3* 


308      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD  BEECHER. 

In  plan,  include  the  whole  ;  in  execution,  take  life  day 
by  day.  Men  do  not  know  how  to  reconcile  the  oppug- 
nant  directions  that  we  should  live  for  the  future,  and 
yet  should  find  our  life  in  fidelities  to  the  present ;  but 
the  last  is  only  the  method  of  the  past.  True  aiming  in 
life,  is  like  true  aiming  in  marksmanship.  We  always 
look  at  the  fore-sight  of  a  rifle  through  the  hind-sight. 


A  noble  man  compares  and  estimates  himself  by  an 
idea  which  is  higher  than  himself,  and  a  mean  man  by 
one  which  is  lower  than  himself.  The  one  produces  as- 
piration ;  the  other,  ambition.  Ambition  is  the  way  in 
which  a  vulgar  man  aspires. 

An  ambition  which  has  conscience  in  it  will  always  be 
a  laborious  and  faithful  engineer,  and  will  build  the  road 
and  bridge  the  chasms  between  itself  and  eminent  success 
by  the  most  faithful  and  minute  performances  of  duty. 


All  true  ambition  and  aspiration  are  without  compari- 
son. 


We  are  bound  to  be  the  almoners  of  God's  bounty — not 
tax-gatherers,  to  take  away  what  little  others  have.  As 
a  father  stands  in  the  midst  of  his  household,  and  says, 
"What  is  best  for  my  children  ?"  so  we  are  to  stand  in 
the  world,  and  say,  "  What  is  best  for  my  brotherhood  ?  " 


GEMS   FROM   PULPIT   UTTERANCES.  309 

Our  people,  nomadic  as  the  Arabs,  impetuous  as  the 
Goths  and  Huns,  pour  themselves  along  our  Western 
border,  carrying  with  them  all  their  wealth  and  all  their 
institutions.  They  drive  schools  along  with  them  as 
shepherds  drive  sheep,  and  troops  of  colleges  go  lowing 
over  the  Western  plains,  like  Jacob's  kine. 


The  Church  has  been  so  fearful  of  amusements  that 
the  devil  has  had  the  care  of  them.  The  chaplet  of 
flowers  has  been  snatched  from  the  brow  of  Christ  and 
given  to  Mammon. 


There  is  an  anger  that  is  damnable ;  it  is  the  anger  of 
selfishness.  There  is  an  anger  that  is  majestic  as  the 
frown  of  Jehovah's  brow ;  it  is  the  anger  of  truth  and 
love.  If  a  man  meets  with  injustice,  it  is  not  required 
that  he  shall  not  be  roused  to  meet  it ;  but  if  he  is  angry 
after  he  has  had  time  to  think  upon  it,  that  is  sinful. 
The  flame  is  not  wrong,  but  the  coals  are. 


Never  forget  what  a  man  has  said  to  you  when  he  was 
angry.  If  he  has  charged  you  with  anything,  you  had 
better  look  it  up.  Anger  is  a  bow  that  will  shoot  some- 
times where  another  feeling  will  not. 


If  the  architect  of  a  house  had  one  plan,  and  the  con- 
tractor another,  what  conflicts  would  there  be!     How 


31O      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

many  walls  would  have  to  come  down,  how  many  doors 
and  windows  would  need  to  be  altered,  before  the  two 
could  harmonize!  Of  the  building  of  life,  God  is  the 
architect,  and  man  is  the  contractor.  God  has  one  plan 
and  man  has  another.  Is  it  strange  that  there  are  clash- 
ings  and  collisions  ? 

There  are  hundreds  of  churches  which  are  nothing  but 
mutual  insurance  companies,  seeking  to  take  care  of 
themselves  and  of  one  another,  and  to  see  that  religion  is 
protected.  Religion  protected !  It  was  given  us  for 
our  protection,  and  we  are  not  to  carry  it  unused  and 
shielded  from  blows,  but  to  put  it  on  like  armor,  and  to 
go  down  with  it  to  the  battle.  When  Paul  said,  "  Quit 
ye  like  men,"  he  was  not  thinking  of  those  Christians 
who  are  rocked  in  the  cradle  of  a  conservative  church, 
by  the  slippered  foot  of  a  soft-speaking  minister,  to  all 
delicate  ditties;  but  of  a  stalwart  soldier,  with  his  face  as 
bronzed  as  his  helmet,  and  ready  for  the  fray. 


It  is  not  a  man's  part  merely  to  keep  his  armor  bright ; 
to  hang  around  the  edge  of  the  fight,  and,  whenever  he 
sees  it  bulging  out  toward  him,  to  retreat  to  a  hill,  and, 
if  any  dust  has  fallen  upon  his  armor,  to  set  to  work  at 
once  to  brush  it  off.  It  is  a  man's  business  to  go  down  to 
the  battle,  and  to  use  his  sword  when  he  gets  there. 
Man  was  not  meant  to  be  an  armor-keeper  ;  but  there  are 


GEMS   FROM  PULPIT   UTTERANCES.  311 

men  who  go  all  their  lives  scrubbing  up  their  armor- 
keeping  their  hope  bright  and  their  faith  bright,  but  never 
using  them.  Miserable,  scouring  Christians  ! 


There  is  much  contention  among  men  whether  thought 
or  feeling  is  the  better ;  but  feeling  is  the  bow,  and  thought 
the  arrow,  and  every  good  archer  must  have  both.  Alone, 
one  is  as  helpless  as  the  other.  The  head  gives  artillery ; 
the  heart,  powder.  The  one  aims  and  the  other  fires. 


The  aster  has  not  wasted  spring  and  summer  because 
it  has  not  blossomed.  It  has  been  all  the  time  preparing 
for  what  is  to  follow,  and  in  autumn  it  is  the  glory  of  the 
field,  and  only  the  frost  lays  it  low.  So  there  are  many 
people  who  must  live  forty  or  fifty  years,  and  have  the 
crude  sap  of  their  natural  dispositions  changed  and  sweet- 
ened before  the  blossoming  time  can  come  ;  but  their  life 
has  not  been  wasted. 


A  babe  is  a  mother's  anchor.  She  cannot  swing  far 
from  her  moorings.  And  yet  a  true  mother  never  lives 
so  little  in  the  present  as  when  by  the  side  of  the  cradle. 
Her  thoughts  follow  the  imagined  future  of  her  child. 
That  babe  is  the  boldest  of  pilots,  and  guides  her  fearless 
thoughts  down  through  scenes  of  coming  years.  The  old 
ark  never  made  such  a  voyage  as  the  cradle  daily  makes. 


312      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 


God  is  a  being  who  gives  everything  but  punishment 
in  over-measure.  The  whole  divine  character  and  ad- 
ministration, the  whole  conception  of  God  as  set  forth 
in  the  Bible  and  in  nature,  is  of  a  being  of  munificence, 
of  abundance,  and  superabundance.  Enough  is  a  meas- 
uring word — a  sufficiency  and  no  more;  economy,  not 
profusion.  God  never  deals  in  this  way.  With  Him 
there  is  always  a  magnificent  overplus.  The  remotest 
corner  of  the  globe  is  full  of  wonder  and  beauty.  The 
laziest  bank  in  the  world,  away  from  towns,  where  no 
artists  do  congregate,  upon  which  no  farm  laps,  where 
no  vines  hang  their  cooling  clusters,  nor  flowers  spring, 
nor  grass  invites  the  browsing  herd,  is  yet  spotted  and 
patched  with  moss  of  such  exquisite  beauty,  that  the 
painter  who  in  all  his  life  should  produce  one  such  thing 
would  be  a  master  in  art  and  immortal  in  fame,  and  it 
has  the  hair  of  ten  thousand  reeds  combed  over  its  brow, 
and  its  shining  sand  and  insect  tribes  might  win  the 
student's  lifetime.  God's  least  thought  is  more  prolific 
than  man's  greatest  abundance. 


Looked  at  without  educated  associations,  there  is  no 
difference  between  a  man  in  bed  and  a  man  in  a  coffin. 
And  yet,  such  is  the  power  of  the  heart  to  redeem  the 


GEMS   FROM   PULPIT   UTTERANCES.  313 

animal  life,  that  there  is  nothing  more  exquisitely  refined, 
and  pure,  and  beautiful,  than  the  chamber  of  the  house. 
The  couch  !  From  the  day  that  the  bride  sanctifies  it  to 
the  day  when  the  aged  mother  is  borne  from  it,  it  stands 
clothed  with  loveliness  and  dignity.  Cursed  be  the 
tongue  that  dares  speak  evil  of  the  household  bed  !  By 
its  side  oscillates  the  cradle  !  Not  far  from  it  is  the  crib. 
In  this  sacred  precinct,  the  mother's  chamber,  lies  the 
heart  of  the  family.  Here  the  child  learns  its  prayer. 
Hither,  night  by  night,  angels  troop.  It  is  the  Holy  of 
Holies. 


If  a  bell  were  hung  high  in  heaven  which  the  angels 
swung  whenever  a  man  was  lost,  how  incessantly  would 
it  toll  in  days  of  prosperity  for  men  gone  down,  for  honor 
lost,  for  integrity  lost,  and  for  manhood  lost,  beyond  con- 
trol !  But  in  times  of  disaster  the  sounds  would  inter- 
mit, and  the  angels,  looking  down,  would  say,  "  He  that 
findeth  his  life  shall  lose  it,  but  he  that  loseth  his  life  for 
my  sake  shall  find  it." 

Some  men  think  that  religion  is  a  mere  ecstatic  ex- 
perience, like  a  tune  rarely  played  upon  some  faculty ; 
living  only  while  it  is  being  performed,  and  then  dying 
in  silence.  And,  indeed,  many  men  carry  their  religion 
as  a  church  carries  its  bell — high  up  in  a  belfry,  to  ring 
out  on  sacred  days,  to  strike  for  funerals,  or  to  chime  for 


314      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

weddings.  All  the  rest  of  the  time  it  hangs  high  above 
reach — voiceless,  silent,  dead.  But  religion  is  not  the 
specialty  of  any  one  feeling,  but  the  mood  and  harmony 
of  the  whole  of  them.  It  is  the  whole  soul  marching 
heavenward  to  the  music  of  joy  and  love,  with  well-ranked 
faculties,  every  one  of  them  beating  time  and  keeping 
time. 

To  be  praised,  and  to  have  the  reputation  of  liberality, 
is  the  way  many  people  have  of  taking  interest  on  what 
they  lend  to  the  Lord. 


The  Bible  is  the  most  betrashed  book  in  the  world. 
Coming  to  it  through  commentaries  is  much  like  looking 
at  a  landscape  through  garret  windows,  over  which  gene- 
rations of  unmolested  spiders  have  spun  their  webs. 


Our  real  commentators  are  our  strongest  traits  of  char- 
acter ;  and  we  usually  come  out  of  the  Bible  with  all  those 
texts  sticking  to  us  which  our  idiosyncrasies  attract. 


How  sad  is  that  field  from  which  battle  has  just  de- 
parted !  By  as  much  as  the  valley  was  exquisite  in  its 
loveliness,  is  it  now  sublimely  sad  in  its  desolation.  Such 
to  me  is  the  Bible,  when  a  fighting  theologian  has  gone 
through  it. 


GEMS   FROM   PULPIT  UTTERANCES.  315 

What  a  pin  is  when  the  diamond  has  dropped  from  its 
setting,  that  is  the  Bible  when  its  emotive  truths  have 
been  taken  away.  What  a  babe's  clothes  are  when  the 
babe  has  slipped  out  of  them  into  death,  and  the  mother's 
arms  clasp  only  raiment,  would  be  the  Bible,  if  the  Babe 
of  Bethlehem,  and  the  truths  of  deep-heartedness  that 
clothed  his  life,  should  slip  out  of  it. 


Sink  the  Bible  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  and  man's 
obligations  to  God  would  be  unchanged.  He  would  have 
the  same  path  to  tread,  only  his  lamp  and  his  guide  would 
be  gone  ;  he  would  have  the  same  voyage  to  make,  only 
his  compass  and  chart  would  be  overboard. 


Many  people  regard  the  Bible  as  an  old  ruin.  They 
think  there  may  be  some  chambers  in  it  which  might  be 
made  habitable,  if  it  were  worth  the  while ;  but  they  take 
it  as  a  young  heir  takes  his  estate,  who  says,  "  I  shall 
build  me  a  modern  house  to  live  in,  but  I'll  keep  the  old 
castle  as  a  ruin ; "  and  so  they  have  some  scientific  or 
literary  house  to  live  in,  and  look  upon  the  Bible  only  as 
a  romantic  relic  of  the  past. 


The  truths  of  the  Bible  are  like  gold  in  the  soil.  Whole 
generations  walk  over  it,  and  know  not  what  treasures  are 
hidden  beneath.  So  centuries  of  men  pass  over  the 
Scriptures,  and  know  not  what  riches  lie  under  the  feet 


3l6      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

of  their  interpretation.  Sometimes,  when  they  discover 
them,  they  call  them  new  truths.  One  might  as  well  call 
gold,  newly  dug,  new  gold. 


The  Bible,  without  a  spiritual  life  to  interpret  it,  is 
like  a  trellis  on  which  no  vine  grows — bare,  angular,  and 
in  the  way.  The  Bible,  with  a  spiritual  life,  is  like  a 
trellis  covered  with  a  luxuriant  vine — beautiful,  odorous, 
and  heavy  with  purple  clusters  shining  through  the 
leaves. 


Dust,  by  its  own  nature,  can  rise  only  so  far  above  the 
road ;  and  birds  which  fly  higher  never  have  it  upon 
their  wings.  So  the  heart  that  knows  how  to  fly  high 
enough  escapes  those  little  cares  and  vexations  which 
brood  upon  the  earth,  but  cannot  rise  above  it  into  that 
purer  air. 


As  birds  in  the  hour  of  transmigration  feel  the  impulse 
of  southern  lands,  and  gladly  spread  their  wings  for  the 
realm  of  light  and  bloom,  so  may  we,  in  the  death-hour, 
feel  the  sweet  solicitations  of  the  life  beyond,  and  joyfully 
soar  from  the  chill  and  shadow  of  earth  to  fold  our  wings 
and  sing  in  the  summer  of  an  eternal  heaven  1 


Every  man  in  a  Christian  church  ought  to  feel  that  he 
uses  the  power  of  the  whole,  yet  never  so  as  to  take  away 


GEMS   FROM    PULPIT   UTTERANCES.  317 

from  him  the  need  of  individual  exertion.  If  we  have 
experience,  any  brother  has  a  right  to  come  to  us  and 
say,  "  Put  your  experience,  as  a  bridge,  over  that  stream 
which  I  must  cross.  I  want  timber  there  to  walk  on." 


How  hateful  is  that  religion  which  says,  "  Business  is 
business,  and  politics  are  politics,  and  religion  is  religion  ! " 
Religion  is  using  everything  for  God  ;  but  many  men 
dedicate  business  to  the  devil,  and  politics  to  the  devil, 
and  shove  religion  into  the  cracks  and  crevices  of  time, 
and  make  it  the  hypocritical  outcrawling  of  their  leisure 
and  laziness. 


The  whole  earth  is  like  a  caldron,  boiling  and  seething 
with  human  passions.  Man  is  at  war  with  man,  and 
everywhere  are  rage  and  animosity.  When,  from  God's 
fatherhood,  shall  come  the  truth  of  our  brotherhood  ? 
Lord  Jesus,  what  hast  thou  done  since  thou  wentest  away  ? 
Hast  thou  forgotten  thine  errand  hither  ?  Art  thou  not 
weary  of  this  globe,  which  swings  about  thy  throne  on  its 
bitter  path  with  anthems  of  pain  and  woe  ?  Hasten  the 
time  when  the  whole  world,  enchoired  by  love,  shall  go 
its  golden  way  singing  thy  praise  and  its  joy  ! 


A  man  in  a  state  of  hot-brain  nervousness  is  burning 
up.  He  is  like  a  candle  in  a  hot  candlestick,  which  burns 
off  at  one  end  and  melts  down  at  the  other. 


318      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

People  say,  "  How  fortunate  it  is  that  things  have 
turned  out  just  as  they  have — that  I  was  prepared  for 
this ! "  As  if  God  did  not  arrange  the  whole !  One 
might  as  well  say,  "  How  fortunate  it  is  that  I  have  a 
neck  beneath  my  head,  and  shoulders  under  my  neck ! " 


Character,  like  porcelain  ware,  must  be  painted  before 
it  is  glazed.  There  can  be  no  change  after  it  is  burned 
in. 


When  our  cup  runs  over,  we  let  others  drink  the  drops 
that  fall,  but  not  a  drop  from  within  the  rim,  and  call  it 
charity ;  when  the  crumbs  are  swept  from  our  table,  we 
think  it  generous  to  let  the  dogs  eat  them ;  as  if  that 
were  charity  which  permits  others  to  have  what  we  can- 
not keep  ;  which  says  to  Ruth,  "  Glean  after  the  young 
men,"  but  forgets  to  say  to  the  young  men,  "  Let  fall  also 
some  of  the  handfuls  of  purpose  for  her." 


Our  children  that  die  young  are  like  those  spring  bulbs 
which  have  their  flowers  prepared  beforehand,  and  have 
nothing  to  do  but  to  break  ground,  and  blossom,  and 
pass  away.  Thank  God  for  spring  flowers  among  men, 
as  well  as  among  the  grasses  of  the  field. 


In  the  earlier  ages  of  New  England,  the  State  was  noth- 
ing but  Congregationalism  in  civil  affairs,  and  the  Church 


GEMS   FROM   PULPIT  UTTERANCES.  319 

was  nothing  but  republicanism  carried  into  religious  af- 
fairs. They  reflected  each  other.  New  Englandism  is 
but  another  word  for  Puritanism  in  the  Independent 
sense,  and  that  is  but  another  word  for  New  Testament- 
ism. 


Conceited  men  often  seem  a  harmless  kind  of  men,  who, 
by  an  overweening  self-respect,  relieve  others  from  the 
duty  of  respecting  them  at  all. 


A  man  will  confess  sins  in  general ;  but  those  sins  which 
he  would  not  have  his  neighbor  know  for  his  right  hand, 
which  bow  him  down  with  shame  like  a  wind-stricken 
bulrush,  those  he  passes  over  in  his  prayer.  Men  are 
willing  to  be  thought  sinful  in  disposition  ;  but  in  special 
acts  they  are  disposed  to  praise  themselves.  They  there- 
fore confess  their  depravity  and  defend  their  conduct. 
They  are  wrong  in  general,  but  right  in  particular. 


Defeat  is  a  school  in  which  Truth  always  grows  strong. 


The  elect  are  whosoever  will,  and  the  non-elect  whoso- 
ever won't. 


Flowers  are  the  sweetest  things  that  God  ever  made 
and  forgot  to  put  a  soul  into. 


32O     LIFE  AND   WORK  OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

All  things  in  the  natural  world  symbolize  God,  yet  none 
of  them  speak  of  Him  but  in  broken  and  imperfect  words. 
High  above  all  He  sits,  sublimer  than  mountains,  grander 
than  storms,  sweeter  than  blossoms  and  tender  fruits, 
nobler  than  lords,  truer  than  parents,  more  loving  than 
lovers.  His  feet  tread  the  lowest  places  of  the  earth  ;  but 
His  head  is  above  all  glory,  and  everywhere  He  is  su- 
preme. 


What  cares  the  child,  when  the  mother  rocks  it,  though 
all  storms  beat  without  ?  So  we,  if  God  doth  shield  and 
tend  us,  shall  be  heedless  of  the  tempests  and  blasts  of 
life,  blow  they  never  so  rudely. 


A  man  living  at  an  hotel  is  like  a.grape-vine  in  a  flower- 
pot— movable,  carried  around  from  place  to  place,  docked 
at  the  root  and  short  at  the  top.  Nowhere  can  a  man 
get  real  root-room,  and  spread  out  his  branches  till  they 
touch  the  morning  and  the  evening,  but  in  his  own  house. 


No  man  can  tell  whether  he  is  rich  or  poor  by  turning 
to  his  ledger.  It  is  the  heart  that  makes  a  man  rich. 
He  is  rich  or  poor  according  to  what  he  is,  not  according 
to  what  he  has. 


The  abetters  of  slavery  are  weaving  the  thread  in  the 
loom,  but  God  is  adjusting  the  pattern.     They  are  asses 


GEMS   FROM   PULPIT   UTTERANCES.  321 

harnessed  to  the  chariot  of  Liberty,  and  whether  they  will 
or  no,  must  draw  it  on. 


A  lie  always  needs  a  truth  for  a  handle  to  it,  else  the 
hand  would  cut  itself  which  sought  to  drive  it  home  upon 
another.  The  worst  lies,  therefore,  are  those  whose  blade 
is  false,  but  whose  handle  is  true. 


In  this  world,  it  is  not  what  we  take  up,  but  what  we 
give  up,  that  makes  us  rich. 


The  most  dangerous  infidelity  of  the  day  is  the  infidel- 
ity of  rich  and  orthodox  churches. 


Any  feeling  that  takes  a  man  away  from  his  home  is 
a  traitor  to  the  household. 


There  is  always  the  need  for  a  man  to  go  higher,  if  he 
has  the  capacity  to  go. 


Liberty  is  the  soul's  right  to  breathe,  and  when  it  can- 
not take  a  long  breath,  laws  are  girdled  too  tight.  With- 
out liberty  man  is  in  a  syncope. 


There  is  always  somebody  to  believe  in  anyone  who  is 
uppermost. 


322      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

/ 

Death  is  the  dropping  of  the  flower  that  the  fruit  may 
swell. 


Of  all  earthly  music,  that  which  reaches  the  farthest 
into  heaven  is  the  beating  of  a  loving  heart. 


Reason  can  tell  how  love  affects  us,  but  cannot  tell 
what  love  is. 


There  is  no  harder  shield  for  the  devil  to  pierce  with 
temptation  than  singing  with  prayer. 


Many  of  our  troubles  are  God  dragging  us,  and  they 
would  end  if  we  could  stand  upon  our  feet  and  go 
whither  he  would  have  us. 


A  man  might  frame  and  let  loose  a  star  to  roll  in  its 
orbit,  and  yet  not  have  done  so  memorable  a  thing  before 
God  as  he  who  lets  go  a  golden-orbed  thought  to  roll 
through  the  generations  of  time. 

Mr.  Beecher  began,  in  May,  1885,  a  series  of  sermons 
on  evolution,  which  drew  unusually  large  audiences  to 
Plymouth  Church.  They  were  afterward  bound  to- 
gether in  book-form.  The  series  was  continued  until 
the  summer  vacation  of  that  year.  The  object  of  the 
sermons  was  to  show  the  moral  evolution  of  man  rather 


GEMS   FROM   PULPIT   UTTERANCES.  323 

than  to  give  a  scientific  discussion  of  the  theory.  Mr. 
Beecher's  idea  was  that  man  began  on  a  very  low  basis, 
and  that  there  was  a  long  period  when  he  was  develop- 
ing so  as  to  understand  the  existence  and  nature  of  God — 
a  period  of  incubation,  he  described  it.  In  closing  his  first 
sermon  on  the  subject,  clasping  his  hands,  he  said  :  "  There 
shall  come  a  day  when  life  and  all  its  troubles  have  passed 
away.  There  shall  come  a  day  when  I  shall  know  even 
as  I  am  known,  and  as  God  the  all-knowing  looks  through 
and  through  me  and  knows  me  altogether,  I  shall  behold 
Him  as  He  is,  and  shadows,  figments,  and  partialities  will 
have  passed  away  forever  and  I  shall  know  Him  as  I  am 
known."  Mr.  Beecher  touched  lightly  on  the  Darwinian 
theory,  but  went  so  far  as  to  say  :  "  I  am  inclined  to  be- 
lieve that  man  is,  in  the  order  of  nature,  in  an  analogy 
with  the  rest  of  God's  work,  and  that  there  was  a  time 
when  he  stepped  ahead  of  his  fellow-animals."  In  the 
series  Mr.  Beecher  spoke  of  evolution  in  connection  with 
inspiration  of  the  Bible,  inherited  sin,  regeneration  of 
man,  design  and  evolution  in  the  Church. 

While  he  was  engaged  in  delivering  these  sermons  he 
described  his  religious  faith  fully  and  concisely  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter  to  the  Rev.  George  Morrison,  of  Balti- 
more :  * 

• 

"  BROOKLYN,  June  13,  1885. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  thank  you  for  your  friendly  solicitude. 
I  am  sure  that  in  the  end  you  will  not  be  disappointed, 
14 


324      LIFE   AND    WORK    OF   HENRY    WARD    BEECHER. 

though  on  some  points  you  may  not  agree  with  me. 
The  foundation  doctrines,  as  I  hold  them,  are  a  per- 
sonal God,  Creator,  and  ruler  over  all  things ;  the  hu- 
man family  universally  sinful  ;  the  need  and  possibility 
and  facts  of  conversion  ;  the  Divine  agency  in  sueh  a 
work ;  Jesus  Christ  the  manifestation  of  God  in  human 
condition  ;  his  office  in  redemption  supreme.  I  do  not 
believe  in  the  Calvinistic  form  of  stating  the  atonement. 
I  do  not  believe  in  the  fall  of  the  human  race  in  Adam, 
and  of  course  I  do  not  hold  that  Christ's  work  was  to 
satisfy  the  law  broken  by  Adam  for  all  his  posterity. 
The  race  was  not  lost,  but  has  been  ascending  steadily 
from  creation.  I  am  in  hearty  accord  with  revivals  and 
revival  preaching,  with  the  educating  forces  of  the  Church, 
and  in  sympathy  with  all  ministers  who  in  their  several 
ways  seek  to  build  up  men  into  the  image  of  Jesus  Christ, 
by  whose  faithfulness,  generosity,  and  love  I  hope  to  be 
saved  and  brought  home  to  heaven.  With  cordial  re- 
gards, I  am  truly  yours, 

"  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

INCIDENTS  OF  HIS  LECTURING  TOURS. 

Interesting  Reminiscences  and  Anecdotes. — Major  Pond's  Story. — Beecher 
"  Democratic  Through  and  Through." — Remembrance  of  Old  Parish- 
ioners.— The  Old  Lady  from  Indianapolis. — His  Profits  from  Lectur- 
ing.— Angry  only  Once. — Refused  to  go  to  Private  Houses. — Fond- 
ness for  Children. — Care  for  Two  Children  on  a  Railway  Train. — 
Never  wore  a  Silk  Hat  but  Once. — "Playing  Horse." — Beecher  and 
Sir  Samuel  Cunard. — Preparing  Lunch  with  His  Own  Hands. — The 
Drunken  Man  at  the  Lecture. — Fast  Riding  on  a  Train. — General 
King's  Recollections. — Beecher  as  a  Travelling  Companion. — Sleep- 
ing under  Table-cloths. — "  Mutton  or  Beef  ?" 

MAJOR  J.  B.  POND  travelled  with  Mr.  Beecher  for  ten 
years,  Mr.  Beecher  doing  the  lecturing  and  Major  Pond 
managing  their  mutual  venture.  This  lecture  experience 
brought  the  two  men  into  close  contact  under  the  trying 
ordeals  of  travel  by  steam,  by  car  and  boat,  in  wind  and 
rain,  and  hail  and  snow,  and  likewise  in  sunshine  and 
balmy  air.  Mr.  Beecher  found  a  genial,  whole-souled 
companion  in  Major  Pond,  and  certainly  Major  Pond 
had  such  opportunities  to  see  the  heart  and  mind  of  Mr. 
Beecher  in  a  way  that  few  others  than  the  immediate 
members  of  Mr.  Beecher's  family  have  had  the  chance 
to  enjoy.  Major  Pond  in  all  these  years  saw  Mr. 


326      LIFE   AND    WORK    OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Beecher  angry  but  once — -at  least,  Mr.  Beecher  said  he 
was,  but  there  was  doubt  of  the  depth  of  his  wrath. 
The  preacher  was  always  even-tempered  and  democratic, 
and  only  once  did  he  wear  a  silk  hat.  In  an  interview 
during  Mr.  Beecher's  illness,  Major  Pond  ran  over  his 
experience  with  the  great  orator,  and  recalled  much  that 
throws  a  vivid  light  on  his  character  and  habits  of  life. 
About  his  room  were  many  portraits  of  the  pastor  of 
Plymouth  Church,  while  several  packages  of  his  letters 
lay  in  convenient  drawers,  besides  many  sermons,  includ- 
ing that  of  Mr.  Beecher's  last  Thanksgiving  address. 
These  consisted  of  notes  only,  for  Mr.  Beecher  did  not 
write  out  his  sermons. 

When  the  interviewer  called,  Major  Pond  was  just 
writing  letters  to  two  of  Mr.  Beecher's  old  friends,  in- 
forming them  of  his  fatal  illness.  To  one,  Mrs.  Drury, 
of  Canandaigua,  who  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Beecher  by 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Major  Pond  wrote  that  on  the 
previous  Tuesday  Mr.  Beecher  was  in  cheerful  mood  and 
talked  animatedly  of  his  "  Life  of  Christ."  Another  friend 
was  an  old  lady  living  in  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  who  was 
one  of  the  pioneer  members  of  Mr.  Beecher's  church 
there,  and  who  came  on  to  Peekskill  occasionally  in  the 
summer  to  visit  her  old  pastor's  home.  Major  Pond  was 
performing  this  duty  because  he  knew  it  would  be  in  ac- 
cord with  Mr.  Beecher's  wishes. 

"  Mr.  Beecher,"  said  Major  Pond,  after  scanning  one 


INCIDENTS   OF   HIS   LECTURING  T^URS.  327 

of  the  letters,  "  was  democratic  through  and  through. 
No  matter  what  one's  position,  it  was  the  man  he  looked 
at.  There  was  never  a  more  marked  exhibition  of  this 
trait  of  his  than  at  the  dinner  he  gave  at  Indianapolis  last 
year  to  his  old  friends  and  parishioners.  The  old  lady 
friend  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  in  poor  circumstances 
though  she  was,  sat  next  to  Mr.  Beecher  in  the  seat  of 
honor.  Rich  and  poor  were  intermingled  down  the  table. 
His  poor  parishioners  and  their  children  and  grandchil- 
dren were  there,  and  Mr.  Beecher's  face  beamed  with  hap- 
piness. I  was  just  writing  to  the  old  lady  that  on  Tues- 
day last  Mr.  Beecher  was  in  high  spirits  and  told  me  that 
before  he  plunged  into  his  work  on  the  '  Life  of  Christ ' 
he  felt  like  first  '  going  on  a  spree.'  Do  you  know  what 
'  going  on  a  spree '  meant  with  him  ?  Why,  going  around 
town  to  look  at  some  bric-a-brac,  stare  in  shop-windows, 
look  at  pictures,  and  things  of  that  sort. 

"I  first  came  in  contact  with  Mr.  Beecher  in  1872, 
when  the  Redpath  Bureau,  in  which  I  was  a  partner,  en- 
gaged him  to  deliver  seventeen  consecutive  lectures  for 
$12,000,  $6,000  being  in  advance,  he  to  have  expenses 
paid  and  a  special  car.  That  was  $700  a  lecture.  The 
bureau  cleared  $5,000.  He  went  out  as  far  as  Chicago. 
In  1876  I  took  him  personally.  For  the  season  1876-77 
he  netted  for  himself  $41,530;  for  1877-78,  $27,200;  for 
1878-79,  $21,200;  for  1879-80,  when  he  did  but  little 
lecturing,  $8,500,  and  he  has  averaged  about  the  same 


328      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

since,  making  a  total  of  about  $240,000  for  the  ten  years 
for  which  I  have  his  receipts.  He  delivered  in  that 
time  over  1,200  lectures,  and  travelled  400,000  miles. 
He  was  a  great  hand  to  travel  nights  ;  he  was  never  fa- 
tigued if  he  could  sleep  afternoon,  and  his  afternoon  nap 
he  always  took,  if  possible,  whether  travelling  or  not. 

"  I  have  seen  Mr.  Beecher  under  all  circumstances,  and 
I  never  saw  him  angry  but  once.  The  circumstances 
were  most  trying.  In  all  his  travelling,  Mr.  Beecher  had 
one  rule  from  which  he  refused  to  deviate ;  he  would 
never  go  to  a  private  house,  unless  it  might  be  that  of 
some  old  friend.  He  was  travelling  in  Iowa,  and  a  friend 
of  his,  an  ex- Congressman  and  then  president  of  a  rail- 
road, invited  him  to  stop  over  in  his  place  and  preach  on 
Sunday.  Mr.  Beecher  consented,  provided  a  special  car 
should  be  sent  to  the  place  where  he  lectured  on  Satur- 
day evening  so  that  he  would  not  have  to  travel  on  Sun- 
day, and  he  should  not  be  obliged  to  go  to  a  private 
house.  I  wrote  accordingly.  The  president  came  in  his 
own  private  car  and  took  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beecher  and  my- 
self to  his  town.  On  our  arrival,  at  2  A.M.,  he  marched 
us  to  his  own  house.  Mr.  Beecher  declined  to  go  in. 
'  I  assured  you,'  he  said  to  his  would-be  host,  '  that  I 
would  not  go  to  a  private  house.'  I  went  back  and  tried 
to  find  an  hotel.  I  could  get  into  none,  and  so  reported 
to  Mr.  Beecher,  and  told  him  that  the  best  he  could  do 
was  to  remain  at  the  house.  He  then  turned  to  the  rail- 


INCIDENTS  OF   HIS  LECTURING  TOURS.  320 

road  president  and  said  :  '  I  am  very  angry,  sir ! '  Yet  he 
had  to  stay  there,  and  the  next  morning  he  was  all  right. 
He  was  splendidly  entertained. 

"  Mr.  Beecher  was  the  best  traveller  I  ever  knew  after 
he  got  started.  I  had  great  difficulty  in  getting  him  to 
undertake  long  journeys,  notably  to  California  and  to 
England  the  second  time.  I  had  to  urge  the  desire  of  the 
people  and  his  friends  to  see  him,  and  work  all  possible 
motives  for  two  or  three  years  before  he  made  up  his  mind 
to  the  California  trip.  When  he  was  travelling  he  never 
complained  ;  he  always  found  diversion.  He  would  eat 
with  the  crowd  at  the  poorest  tavern,  and  took  what  was 
set  before  him  ;  he  never  had  a  meal  in  his  room.  He 
made  himself  at  home  in  the  cars,  and  it  would  be  only  a 
few  minutes  after  he  had  stepped  into  a  car  full  of  people 
before  he  would  be  a  general  favorite  and  everybody  felt 
the  better  for  his  being  there. 

"  Mr.  Beecher  was  wonderfully  fond  of  children,  and  he 
always  carried  oranges  and  candies  in  his  pockets  to  help 
entertain  them  on  the  cars.  If  he  saw  a  poor  mother  with 
a  baby  crying  in  her  arms  he  would  go  and  comfort  it  and 
make  it  stop  its  crying  where  others  failed.  In  coming 
up  from  Washington  one  time  a  characteristic  incident 
occurred.  There  were  two  little  children,  boy  and  girl, 
eight  or  nine  years  old,  in  the  car,  and  they  huddled  close 
up  together  and  appeared  to  be  very  fond  of  each  other. 
We  had  breakfast  at  Wilmington,  but  the  children  did 


330      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

not  get  off  the  car,  and  they  had  evidently  travelled  all 
night  without  anything  to  eat.  When  Mr.  Beecher  came 
back  from  breakfast  his  arms  were  laden  with  good  things 
for  the  children.  Then  he  talked  to  them.  He  found 
that  they  were  from  the  South,  that  their  parents  had  died, 
and  that  they  were  on  their  way  to  this  city  to  find  an 
uncle  whom  they  expected  to  meet  them.  The  train  was 
late — what  if  the  uncle  should  fail  to  meet  them  ?  When 
the  train  arrived  in  Jersey  City  Mr.  Beecher  got  out  of 
the  car  with  the  children,  walked  slowly  along,  looking 
around  to  see  if  he  could  discover  anyone  looking  for 
them,  and  got  out  between  the  two  ferries  and  stood 
there  waiting  until  both  boats  had  gone.  Soon  a  man 
came  hurrying  along  in  great  distress  and  saw  the  two 
children,  but  as  he  expected  to  find  them  unaccompanied, 
he  stopped  in  doubt.  Mr.  Beecher  suspected  that  he 
might  be  the  uncle,  and  asked  him  what  he  was  looking 
for. 

"  '  Two  children.' 

" '  Well,'  said  Mr.  Beecher,  '  I  guess  they're  here. 
These  look  like  two  children,  don't  they  ?' 

"  It  was  the  uncle,  and  he  was  indeed  grateful.  Thank- 
ing Mr.  Beecher,  he  said  : 

"  '  Will  you  kindly  give  me  your  name  ?' 

"  '  My  name  is  Beecher.' 

"  '  Where  do  you  live  ? ' 

" '  In  Brooklyn.' 


INCIDENTS  OF  HIS  LECTURING  TOURS.  331 

" '  What !    Can  you  be  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  ? ' 

"  '  I  am  inclined  to  think  I  am.' 

"  Tears  came  into  the  man's  eyes,  and  he  explained  to 
the  little  ones  who  it  was  who  had  befriended  them.  The 
two  children  soon  after  were  seen  in  Plymouth  Church, 
and  they  have  since  then  listened  to  Mr.  Beecher's  ser- 
mons frequently. 

"  In  all  his  lecture  tours  Mr.  Beecher  gave  only  six  dis- 
appointments, and  two  of  them  were  at  Lebanon,  Penn., 
once  because  '  Mackey's  Guide  '  got  Lebanon,  N.  J.,  and 
Lebanon,  Penn.,  mixed,  and  once  because  of  a  snow-storm, 
two  years  ago.  Mr.  Beecher  might  have  got  there  one 
hour  and  a  half  late,  but  he  would  never  endanger  his 
health  or  the  interests  of  his  church,  and  he  would  have 
been  in  no  condition  to  speak.  The  Lebanon  Lecture 
Bureau  recently  began  suit  against  Mr.  Beecher  for  dam- 
ages for  this.  Once  he  disappointed  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  at  Utica,  and,  being  Christians,  I 
suppose  they  will  never  forgive  him.  He  disappointed 
the  Boston  people  last  fall,  as  the  steamer  from  England 
arrived  only  two  days  before  the  time  set  for  the  lecture, 
and  he  had  been  sick. 

"  Mr.  Beecher  has  drawn  larger  audiences  with  higher 
prices  than  any  other  man  in  this  country.  John  B. 
Gough  was  the  next.  Gough  was  a  professional,  but  he 
could  not  get  the  price  Mr.  Beecher  did.  Mr.  Beecher 

went  twice  to  California,  and  passed  all  over  the  Pacific 
14* 


332      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

railroads.  He  has  lectured  in  every  State  and  Territory 
of  the  Union  except  Idaho,  Arizona,  and  Mississippi,  and 
never  was  man  received  with  more  cordiality  than  he. 
Every  year  he  has  lectured  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, Washington,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  and  Chicago. 
He  never  had  a  set  lecture.  He  did  have  a  subject  which 
he  adapted  to  the  times,  and  that  was :  '  The  Reign  of 
the  Common  People,'  and  to  this  he  tacked  every  theme  ; 
it  was  a  sort  of  advance-guard.  Money  was  no  tempta- 
tion to  him.  It  was  all  I  could  do  to  induce  him  to  go  to 
England  again,  though  he  was  anxious  to  see  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Parker.  He  needed  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  he 
spent  a  great  deal.  Despite  his  dislike  of  long  journeys, 
I  took  him  the  last  time  on  a  circuit  of  the  country  from 
the  Northwest  by  the  Northern  Pacific  to  the  Pacific 
slope,  thence  down  and  back  by  the  Southern  Pacific. 
We  started  from  Brantford,  Ont.,  on  July  gih  ;  he  trav- 
elled and  lectured  six  times  a  week  and  preached  on 
Sundays  until  October  Qth,  when  we  reached  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  and  we  never  saw  a  drop  of  rain  till  we  got  back 
to  New  York,  and  not  one  hot  day  till  we  reached  San 
Antonio,  Tex. 

"  I  had  cancelled  Mr.  Beecher's  lecture  engagements 
for  two  years,  so  that  he  could  give  his  time  to  his  '  Life 
of  Christ '  and  his  autobiography,  which  C.  L.  Webster 
&  Co.  were  to  publish.  I  think  he  was  revising  the 
'  Life  of  Christ,'  and  that  this  work  was  very  nearly  done, 


INCIDENTS   OF   HIS   LECTURING  TOURS.  333 

so  that  it  will  soon  appear.  Nothing  had  been  done  on 
the  autobiography.  I  shall  publish  his  tour  in  England 
in  a  few  days,  with  the  title,  '  A  Summer  in  England  with 
Henry  Ward  Beecher.' " 

Major  Pond's  attention  was  called  to  the  statement 
which  has  been  published,  and  which  has  been  received 
with  general  credence,  that  Mr.  Beecher  never  wore  a 
silk  hat.  The  major  smiled,  and  then  quickly  exclaimed  : 
"  Only  once.  I  must  tell  you  about  that.  I  was  at  Mr. 
Beecher's  house  one  afternoon,  and  we  were  to  leave  the 
house  at  four  o'clock  in  order  to  catch  a  train.  Mr. 
Beecher,  according  to  his  custom  of  an  afternoon,  had 
lain  down  for  a  nap.  I  was  in  the  library,  when,  as  the 
hour  approached,  Mrs.  Beecher  called  my  attention  to 
the  fact  and  asked  where  Mr.  Beecher  was.  I  went  up 
to  call  him,  but  he  was  not  in  his  room.  I  went  down- 
stairs and  thought  I  would  get  my  hat,  which  was  a  silk 
one.  I  could  not  find  it  where  I  had  left  it,  in  the  hall- 
way. Just  then  Mrs.  Beecher  called  my  attention  to  the 
front  of  the  house.  Mr.  Beecher  had  a  cardigan  jacket 
which  he  used  to  wear  around  the  house  at  times,  and  you 
can  imagine  that  it  was  not  particularly  becoming  to  his 
form.  I  went  to  where  Mrs.  Beecher  stood  and  looked 
out.  There  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  with  a  lot  of 
children  around  him,  was  Mr.  Beecher  in  his  cardigan, 
my  silk  hat  on  his  head,  and  a  stick  in  his  mouth  with 
strings  attached,  as  children  make  bits,  and  he  was  pranc- 


334      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ing  up  and  down  and  back  and  forth  and  playing  horse 
with  the  youngsters.  You  would  have  died  a-laughing 
seeing  that  sight.  '  Henry,'  exclaimed  Mrs.  Beecher, 
'  what  on  earth  are  you  doing  ?  Do  you  know  what  a 
sight  you  are  ?  You  will  lose  the  train.' 

"  Mr.  Beecher  stopped,  drew  out  his  watch — he  always 
carried  a  first-class  time-keeper — and  replying,  as  he  put 
it  back,  '  No,  I  won't,  I've  got  two  minutes  yet,'  off  he 
galloped  with  the  children  at  his  heels  in  high  glee.  He 
used  up  the  two  minutes,  and  we  just  caught  the  ferry- 
boat in  time.  Many  a  time  have  we  barely  caught  the 
last  boat ;  but  Mr.  Beecher's  watch  was  as  true  as  steel, 
and  he  always  calculated  apparently  to  the  second. 
When  he  got  on  the  ferryboat  he  never  stopped  until  he 
landed  in  the  pilot-house.  He  had  the  key  to  them,  and 
every  pilot  knew  him,  and  there  he  would  go  and  stay 
until  the  boat  had  got  to  her  landing." 

A  few  years  ago  Major  Pond  visited  Brattleboro',  Vt., 
in  company  with  Mr.  Beecher,  and  the  latter  said  that 
fifty  years  before  that  date  he  was  engaged  to  deliver  a 
Fourth  of  July  oration  in  Brattleboro'.  He  lived  ten 
miles  away,  and  the  committee  offered  him  the  choice 
between  his  expenses  or  ten  dollars  in  cash.  He  took 
the  cash  and  walked  to  and  from  Brattleboro'. 

One  of  his  closest  friends  in  Boston,  to  whom  in  the 
course  of  a  long  intimacy  Mr.  Beecher  probably  wrote 


INCIDENTS   OF   HIS   LECTURING   TOURS.  335 

more  letters  than  to  any  other  one  person,  says  that  it 
was  no  uncommon  thing  for  Beecher  to  appear  in  his 
counting-room  a  little  after  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
when  he  was  to  lecture  in  Tremont  Temple  or  Music 
Hall  in  the  evening,  and  announce  that  he  had  just  come 
from  the  New  York  train,  and  wanted  a  nap  before  he 
went  to  his  hotel  to  get  ready  for  the  lecture.  Here  he 
felt  sure  of  absolute  privacy ;  no  one  could  get  to  him 
with  a  card  or  a  request.  He  would  throw  himself  down 
on  the  floor  of  the  private  office  with  his  head  on  his 
valise  and  his  travelling  shawl  pulled  over  him,  sleep 
soundly  for  a  half-hour  or  an  hour,  then  start  up,  go  to 
his  hotel,  and  write  his  lecture. 

"  I  remember  finding  him  once,"  says  his  friend,  "with 
the  pages  of  his  manuscript  sown  all  over  his  table  and 
the  floor  about  him  in  his  room  at  Parker's  at  7.15  P.M., 
when  he  was  to  speak  at  7.30  P.M.  I  began  picking  up 
the  paper,  hurrying  him  up  and  putting  the  pages  to- 
gether for  him.  '  Oh  !  there's  time  enough,  time  enough 
— plenty  of  time,'  was  all  the  answer  he  made  to  my  re- 
monstrances. He  was  on  his  platform  at  the  moment 
advertised,  primed  full  of  his  subject.  It  would  have 
made  no  difference,  I  really  believe,  if  he  hadn't  written 
a  word  of  it  down,  though  he  took  his  hastily  prepared 
manuscript  with  him." 

When  Beecher  was  returning  from  his  first  trip  to  Eu- 
rope, he  was  asked  to  preach  on  board  the  Cunarder  on 


336      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

which  he  was  returning.  He  refused.  Sir  Samuel  Cu- 
nard  and  a  number  of  clergymen  of  the  English  Church 
were  coming  over,  and  Beecher  said  that  he  was  having 
a  vacation  and  did  not  care  to  come  before  these  people. 
An  over-zealous  American  friend  tried  to  induce  Sir 
Samuel  to  press  Mr.  Beecher  into  the  service.  Then  the 
steamship  man  made  his  famous  six-word  speech  con- 
demning all  Americans  and  the  Collins  line  together.  Out 
of  this  incident  grew  an  absurd  story  which  gained  a  good 
deal  of  newspaper  currency  at  the  time,  that  Beecher 
wished  to  preach  on  board  ship  and  was  not  allowed  a 
chance. 

"  He  had  refused  up  and  down  to  speak,  and  his  inde- 
pendence made  old  Sir  Samuel  a  little  grouty,"  says  the 
friend  who  made  this  ocean  journey  with  him.  "  I 
shouldn't  have  brought  up  the  old  story,  but  it  reminds 
me  of  a  most  Beecher-like  speech  that  he  made  as  a 
number  of  us  sat  on  deck  together.  Dr.  Chapin  had 
been  over  as  a  delegate  to  the  peace  convention  at  Brus- 
sels, and  someone  asked  Beecher  why  he  had  not  gone 
too.  '  Not  I,'  he  replied  ;  '  not  I.  Never  but  once  did  I 
try  to  preach  on  peace,  and  then  my  pump  sucked. ' ' 

Once  he  wrote  to  invite  a  Boston  man  and  his  wife, 
whom  he  knew  very  well,  and  who  were  spending  a  few 
days  in  a  New  York  hotel,  to  come  over  and  take  tea  at 
his  house  in  Brooklyn.  Not  content  with  sending  the 
note,  he  came  for  his  friends,  and  escorted  them  to 


INCIDENTS   OF   HIS   LECTURING   TOURS.  337 

Brooklyn.  Not  until  they  were  in  his  house  did  he  tell 
them  that  Mrs.  Beecher  was  away  in  the  country,  "  up 
in  Peekskill  looking  after  the  poultry,"  and  that  there 
was  not  a  soul  in  the  house  but  himself,  not  even  a  ser- 
vant. He  gave  his  visitors  some  new  pictures  and  books 
to  look  at,  and  presently  they  heard  the  street  door 
close.  After  a  short  time  he  returned  with  a  loaf  of 
bread  and  invited  them  down  to  a  picturesque  repast. 
He  had  set  the  table  himself,  and  had  decorated  it  with 
vases  and  bric-a-brac  in  a  most  fantastic  manner.  After 
a  lunch  of  olives  and  cheese  and  such  other  edibles  as  a 
house  whose  mistress  was  absent  might  furnish  to  guests, 
they  were  taken  up-stairs,  and  presently  people  began  to 
arrive.  Mr.  Beecher  had  invited  a  number  of  his  parish- 
ioners to  meet  his  Boston  friends.  He  would  not  allow 
them  to  go  back  to  New  York  after  these  people  had 
gone.  "  But,"  says  the  lady  who  tells  the  story,  "  Mr. 
Beecher  was  not  equal  to  the  task  of  getting  breakfast 
for  us,  and  he  went  out  and  got  us  invited  with  him  to 
the  home  of  the  Howards,  not  far  away." 

"  He  was  always  the  youngest  member  of  his  family," 
says  another  of  his  friends — "  always  the  most  sympa- 
thetic friend  of  his  boys  and  his  daughter.  Nothing  in 
which  they  were  interested  was  too  small  to  interest 
him,  all  through  their  babyhood  and  childhood.  His 
farm,  which  he  always  tried  to  take  seriously,  but  never 
quite  succeeded  in  doing,  was  a  great  source  of  pleasure 


338      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

to  him.  He  was  particularly  fond  of  arboriculture,  and 
was  always  making  experiments  with  seeds  and  plants, 
expecting  presently  to  produce  something  surprising. 
He  was  always  buoyant,  boyish,  and  happy,  when  re- 
lieved in  the  slightest  from  pressing  cares. 

"  Once  in  Saratoga,"  says  a  former  president  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Instruction,  "  Mr.  Beecher  was 
advertised  to  lecture  before  our  body  on  the  new  edu- 
cation. A  pretty  preface,  intended  as  a  compliment  to 
him,  had  been  arranged.  As  he  entered  the  church 
where  the  lecture  was  to  be  given,  a  dozen  young  girls 
were  to  sing  a  song  for  which  they  had  been  drilled  in 
Boston,  and  which  they  had  come  to  Saratoga  to  sing  at 
the  closing  meeting  of  our  convention.  I  went  over  to 
Mr.  Beecher's  hotel,  and  we  started  to  walk  to  the  church 
together.  I  spoke  to  him  of  the  little  plan  about  the 
singing.  He  stopped  short  on  the  pavement.  '  Can't 
have  any  singing  before  I  speak,'  he  said.  Here  was  a 
dilemma.  I  urged  it ;  I  explained ;  I  entreated  ;  all  in 
vain.  '  Can't  have  anyone  sing  before  I  begin.  Let 
them  sing  afterward.'  There  was  nothing  to  do  but 
to  leave  him  there  and  go  on  ahead  and  stop  the  per- 
formance of  this  part  of  the  programme.  Then  I  went 
back  to  the  street.  Beecher  was  nowhere  to  be  found. 
I  wandered  up  and  down,  back  and  forth,  for  several 
minutes.  At  last  I  found  him  in  a  quiet  side-street, 
leaning  over  an  orchard  fence,  evidently  absorbed  in 


INCIDENTS   OF   HIS   LECTURING  TOURS.  339 

thought.  He  had  forgotten  about  me  and  my  errand 
completely.  I  stepped  up  and  tapped  him  on  the  arm. 
'Mr.  Beecher,'  said  I,  'your  audience  is  waiting  for  you. 
There  will  be  no  singing.'  He  rushed  across  the  street 
and  into  the  church,  up  the  aisle,  and  into  the  finest  lect- 
ure I  ever  heard  him  give.  After  it  was  over  he  was 
affable  and  cordial  as  ever.  The  danger  of  having  his 
mind  diverted  by  a  bevy  of  singers  once  past,  he  was  a 
good  deal  more  at  his  best  than  if  he  had  not  had  his 
combativeness  aroused." 

Whenever  he  went  to  Boston,  Mr.  Beecher  visited  the 
Old  Corner  Bookstore,  where  he  was  wont  to  order 
charged  every  new  book  that  took  his  fancy.  He  liked 
to  stand  about  chatting  with  the  frequenters  of  the  place, 
sometimes  joking  about  the  slow  sales  of  his  own  books  of 
late  years,  and  commenting  upon  other  people's  work  in 
his  own  peculiar  way.  One  day  his  attention  was  called 
by  Mr.  Cupples  to  a  set  of  books  put  down  in  the  front 
of  the  store  ;  every  life  of  Christ  by  every  author  was  put 
on  sale.  There  were  twenty  or  thirty  different  volumes, 
including  the  ones  by  Strauss  and  Renan,  as  well  as  Mr. 
Beecher's  own.  The  first  volumes  of  this  much  discussed 
work  was  there,  the  bulkiest  one  of  all,  "  and  the  poorest 
one  in  the  whole  collection,"  said  Mr.  Beecher,  modestly  ; 
"Farrar's  'Life 'is  worth  more  than  all  the  rest  put  to- 
gether." 

Mr.  Beecher  was  speaking  on  "  Communism  "  once  in 


340      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Chicago  when  a  rather  dramatic  and  very  characteristic 
thing  happened.  His  lecture  was  half  finished.  He  was 
standing  before  an  audience  of  ten  thousand  people  in  the 
old  Tabernacle  building,  a  temporary  structure  on  Frank- 
lin Street,  put  up  to  accommodate  the  vast  audiences 
which  thronged  in  those  days  to  hear  Moody  and  Sankey, 
then  in  the  heyday  of  their  early  work  and  enthusiasm. 
The  great  room  was  packed.  Beecher  rolled  out  sentence 
after  sentence  in  his  most  telling  manner.  Word  after 
word  fell  forcibly  upon  the  vast  crowd,  which  grew  more 
and  more  silent  as  he  went  on.  A  reporter  at  the  table 
down  in  front  of  the  platform  dropped  a  lead-pencil,  and 
one  could  almost  feel  the  noise  it  made,  so  breathlessly 
were  all  in  that  audience  listening  to  the  orator's  voice. 
He  was  telling  the  story  of  the  rise  of  the  power  of  the  peo- 
ple. Presently  he  ended  a  ringing  period  with  these  words, 
pronounced  in  a  voice  so  deep  and  fervid  and  full  of  con- 
viction that  they  seemed  to  have  been  uttered  then  for  the 
first  time  :  "  The  voice  of  the  people  is  the  voice  of  God." 

Into  the  absolute  and  intense  silence  of  the  instant  that 
followed  fell  the  voice  of  a  half-drunken  man  in  the  gal- 
lery :  "  The  voice  of  the  people  is  the  voice  of  a  fool." 

Everybody  fairly  shivered.  But  Beecher  was  equal  to 
the  moment.  He  drew  himself  up,  looked  toward  the 
place  from  which  the  disturbing  voice  came,  and — "  I  said 
the  voice  of  the  people,  not  the  voice  of  one  man,"  he 
replied,  with  perfect  simplicity  and  dignity. 


INCIDENTS   OF   HIS   LECTURING   TOURS.  341 

It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  the  responsive  ex- 
pression of  the  audience.  It  was  not  a  laugh,  it  was  not 
a  cheer.  It  was  a  movement,  a  sound  like  one  great  sigh 
of  relief  and  delight.  The  lecture  went  on ;  the  air  was 
full  of  electric  sympathy  tingling  toward  an  explosion  of 
some  sort.  Beecher  knew  it,  and  seemed  waiting  for  a 
chance  to  put  his  finger  on  the  key  of  the  pent-up  per- 
sonal enthusiasm  which  moved  his  audience.  The 
drunken  fellow  suddenly  gave  him  a  chance.  He  stag- 
gered to  his  feet,  feeling  that  the  odds  were  against  him, 
and  mumbled  out  some  unintelligible  words.  Beecher 
paused  a  second  time  in  his  lecture.  Then  he  said,  with 
that  smile  of  his,  at  once  winning  and  condemning,  which 
so  many  people  know  :  "  Will  some  kind  person  take  our 
friend  out  and  give  him  some  cold  water — plenty  of  it — 
within  and  without  ?"  Two  policemen  had  hold  of  the 
disturber  by  this  time,  and  the  audience  had  liberty  to 
cheer — and  such  a  cheer  as  it  was !  The  Tabernacle 
shook  with  it,  and  it  is  probable  that  at  least  nine-tenths 
of  the  people  who  clapped  their  hands  supposed  that  they 
were  cheering  Beecher's  wit,  instead  of  that  tremendous 
personal  power  which  no  one  need  try  to  analyze. 

While  Mr.  Beecher  was  lecturing  before  a  large  audi- 
ence in  Canandaigua  one  June  evening  in  1877,  a  locomo- 
tive stood  steaming  before  a  handsome  car  at  the  depot, 
waiting  specially  to  take  the  speaker  and  Major  Pond,  his 


342      LIFE.   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

manager,  to  Rochester  at  the  conclusion  of  the  lecture. 
Rochester  is  twenty-nine  miles  west  of  Canandaigua,  and 
it  is  the  nearest  point  where  a  through  sleeping  car  for 
New  York  can  be  reached.  John  Houghtaling,  the 
oldest  conductor  on  the  New  York  Central  Railroad, 
walked  impatiently  up  and  down  the  platform.  The 
usual  running  time  to  Rochester  is  an  hour  and  ten  min- 
utes, the  train  to  be  caught  was  due  in  Rochester  at 
11.08  P.M.,  and  it  was  already  something  more  than  a 
quarter  past  ten  o'clock.  Going  up  to  where  Mr.  Beecher 
was  seated  talking  with  some  friends,  the  lecture  being 
over,  the  old  railroad  man  said  : 

"We  have  very  little  time  left,  Mr.  Beecher." 

"  Plenty  of  time — plenty  of  time,  my  friend,"  said  Mr. 
Beecher.  "  And  if  we  had  only  half  as  much,  such  an 
old  hand  at  the  business  as  yourself  would  bring  us 
through  all  right." 

"  We  will  have  to  run  very  fast  to  catch  the  train  now," 
said  the  conductor. 

"  None  too  fast  to  suit  me,"  said  Mr.  Beecher,  very 
coolly. 

"  But  then  there  are  such  things  as  coal  trains  and 
freight  trains,  and  what  not,  in  the  way,"  urged  the  con- 
ductor. 

"  And  there  are  such  things  as  telegraphs  to  get  them 
out  of  the  way,"  replied  Mr.  Beecher. 

"Well,"  said  the  veteran  conductor,  in  despair,  "  if  you 


INCIDENTS   OF   HIS   LECTURING   TOURS.  343 

like  to  ride  fast,  you  shall  go  from  Canandaigua  to 
Rochester  quicker  than  ever  a  man  went  before,  and  I 
will  see  that  the  track  is  cleared." 

A  timely  despatch  to  headquarters  sent  two  coal  trains 
off  on  side  switches,  and  left  the  twenty-nine  miles  of 
track  clear  for  the  flying  special.  It  was  10.30  P.M.  ex- 
actly when  the  wheels  began  to  move,  and  the  gray- 
haired  railroader  stood  his  lantern  in  the  aisle  and  seated 
himself  with  a  thud,  as  if  he  would  have  said  :  "  When 
you  want  to  go  fast  I'm  your  man." 

In  less  than  a  minute  the  car  was  going  like  the  wind. 
It  rocked  and  swayed  and  jumped,  and  waiting  pas- 
sengers rushed  to  the  depot  doors  as  it  dashed  through 
villages  and  towns,  leaving  their  sight  almost  before  they 
could  set  eyes  on  it. 

"  We  have  just  passed  Pittsford,"  said  Conductor 
Houghtaling,  watch  in  hand,  in  a  few  minutes,  "  seven- 
teen miles ;  time,  nineteen  minutes."  It  seemed  almost 
the  next  moment  when  he  added,  proudly :  "  We've 
crossed  the  Rochester  line,  twenty-six  miles  from  Canan- 
daigua, in  just  twenty-six  minutes.  I've  run  on  this  road 
since  the  first  train  went  over  it,  and  I  never  came  from 
Canandaigua  to  Rochester  as  quick  as  that  before." 

The  engineer  slackened  up  a  little  in  going  the  next 
three  miles,  through  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  and  the  car 
stopped  in  Rochester  depot  at  eleven  o'clock  precisely, 
or  just  thirty  minutes  after  leaving  Canandaigua. 


344      LIFE  AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

General  Horatio  C.  King  says  as  follows  :  "  As  a  trav- 
elling companion  I  never  knew  Mr.  Beecher's  equal.  It 
was  my  good-fortune  to  travel  with  him  for  two  weeks 
in  that  famous  lecture  tour  of  his,  several  years  ago, 
throughout  the  West,  when  for  over  six  weeks  he  lect- 
ured almost  every  week-day  evening  and  preached  on 
Sundays.  He  always  spoke  of  this  as  the  time  when  he 
built  his  house  at  Peekskill  out  of  wind,  for  it  was  the 
receipts  from  this  tour  which  enabled  him  to  erect  the 
beautiful  house  at  Peekskill  to  which  he  looked  forward 
as  his  haven  of  rest  when  he  had  retired  from  the  pulpit. 

"  About  one  thing  he  was  especially  pertinacious,  and 
we  speedily  learned  not  to  offer  to  carry  his  extra  over- 
coat, a  very  heavy  one  with  which  he  always  travelled, 
or  any  of  his  paraphernalia.  This  would  have  been  an 
evidence  of  weakness  which  he  scorned  to  manifest. 
Simple  in  his  tastes,  and  easily  satisfied,  he  was  no  trouble 
to  anyone,  and  indeed  he  was  the  equal  of  the  youngest 
of  us  in  agility,  activity,  and  ability  to  bear  fatigue.  It 
was  on  this  trip  that,  after  his  lecture  at  Dayton,  he  ac- 
cepted an  invitation  to  visit  the  Soldiers'  Home,  nearby. 
After  going  through  all  the  buildings,  including  the  hos- 
pitals, where  he  had  a  kind  and  encouraging  word  for 
all  the  invalid  veterans,  all  who  were  able  congre- 
gated around  the  music-stand  on  the  green,  and  there  for 
about  twenty  minutes  he  thrilled  the  hearts  of  these 
wards  of  the  nation  with  an  eloquence  which  I  have  never 


INCIDENTS   OF   HIS   LECTURING   TOURS.  345 

seen  equalled.  They  were  held  spellbound,  and  before 
he  closed  there  was  not  a  dry  eye  in  that  assembly  of  at 
least  a  thousand  men,  varying  in  age  from  forty  to  sixty 
years.  And  when  he  attempted  to  pass  through  the 
crowd  they  rushed  to  grasp  his  hand  and  poured  forth 
their  thanks  until  Mr.  Beecher,  himself  almost  overcome 
with  emotion,  was  compelled  to  break  away. 

"  His  reception  everywhere  was  an  ovation,  and  en- 
thusiastic crowds  greeted  every  lecture,  even  in  Louis- 
ville, where  the  people  had  not  then  outgrown  their  old- 
time  prejudice.  On  our  way  home  I  accidentally  picked 
up  his  felt  hat,  the  style  he  almost  invariably  wore,  and 
put  it  on  my  head.  Quick  as  a  flash  he  seized  mine, 
which  was  of  the  same  pattern,  pulled  it  on  his  head  with 
some  difficulty,  and  declared  that  it  was  an  even  ex- 
change. I  was  glad  to  accept  the  situation,  and  although 
it  took  several  thicknesses  of  paper  under  the  band  to 
make  it  a  respectable  fit,  I  wore  it  home,  and  have  it  yet 
as  a  memento  of  that  memorable  trip." 

Another  story  of  travelling  experience  comes  from  Mr. 
Beecher's  own  lips.  "  In  1877,"  said  he,  "  I  came  through 
Loudonville,  O.,  and  was  forcibly  reminded  of  my  stay 
there  when  on  my  first  trip  out  West.  We  stopped  late 
at  night,  and  spent  Sunday  there.  There  were  two  coach 
loads  of  us,  and  the  little  two-story  brick  tavern  was 
nearly  full  when  we  arrived.  The  best  they  could  do  for 
my  brother  Charles  and  myeelf  was  to  give  us  a  couple 


346      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

of  '  shakedowns '  in  the  dining-room.  We  slept  late 
Sunday  morning,  but  finally  waking  up,  commenced  to 
talk.  I  said,  '  Charles,  I'll  bet  you  I  can  tell  what  they 
had  at  this  hotel  for  dinner  yesterday.'  '  What  was  it  ?' 
he  asked.  '  Roast  beef,'  I  replied,  basing  my  judgment 
on  a  stale  sort  of  odor  that  pervaded  the  room.  '  No, 
you're  mistaken,'  said  he,  shaking  his  head  and  sniffing  at 
the  covering  of  his  bed  ;  '  it  was  mutton.'  We  both 
stoutly  maintained  our  respective  propositions,  and  falling 
to  a  vigorous  smelling  of  our  bedclothes,  found  the  land- 
lord had  given  us  a  couple  of  table-cloths  for  bedspreads, 
and  Charles  had  got  the  mutton  cloth  and  I  the  beef." 

United  States  Judge  Hugh  L.  Bond  relates  that  the 
first  time  "  Mr.  Beecher  lectured  in  the  South  was  on  the 
evening  of  January  31,  1865,  at  the  Maryland  Institute. 
There  was  considerable  objection  to  it  among  the  timid. 
Chief  Justice  Chase,  Mr.  Stan  ton,  and  others  sat  upon 
the  stand  with  him.  A  telegram  was  received  while  he 
was  speaking  announcing  the  passage  of  the  Constitu- 
tional amendment  abolishing  slavery.  This  created 
what  is  known  among  men  of  the  world  as  a  '  high  old 
time.'  Mr.  Beecher  refused  to  allow  us  to  pay  any  part 
of  his  expenses  or  to  remunerate  him  in  any  respect,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  said  he  would  come  to  our  aid  in  such  a 
cause  as  often  as  we  called  on  him.  This  we  did  at  a 
subsequent  time,  when  he  addressed  the  people  at  Front 
Street  Theatre." 


INCIDENTS   OF   HIS  LECTURING  TOURS.  347 

"  When  did  you  last  see  Mr.  Beecher  ?" 

"  At  Lynchburg,  Va.,  in  1886.  He  was  to  lecture  there, 
and  came  to  the  hotel  where  I  was  stopping.  He  seemed 
to  have  some  difficulty  with  the  committee  which  had 
invited  him.  He  was  to  lecture  on  '  Evolution  and 
Revolution,'  but  as  I  understood  him  the  committee  said 
the  people  of  Lynchburg  were  so  orthodox  that  they 
would  listen  to  nothing  respecting  evolution  or  Darwin- 
ism. He  changed  the  title  to  '  The  Reign  of  the  Com- 
mon People,'  but  it  was  the  same  lecture." 

"Did  you  hear  it?" 

"  Yes,  I  offered  to  introduce  him  to  the  audience.  He 
asked  if  I  was  popular  in  Lynchburg.  I  told  him  I  was 
quite  as  popular  there  as  he  was  before  he  voted  for 
Cleveland.  So  he  thought,  he  said,  but  I  had  not  con- 
sidered his  topic.  I  suggested  I  could  explain  the  physi- 
cal evolution  theory  to  a  country  audience  by  the  tadpole 
turning  to  a  frog,  but  that  when  I  came  to  mental  evolu- 
tion, I  should  take  his  case  and  show  what  terrible  throes 
of  nature  were  required  to  make  so  good  a  Republican 
into  the  imperfect  Mugwump.  He  was  fond  of  humor, 
declined  my  proffered  services,  but  asked  me  to  sit  on 
the  platform." 
'5 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

HORTICULTURIST   AND   FARMER. 

His  Boyhood  Gardening. — Early  Love  for  Plants  and  Animals. —His  Gar- 
den at  Lawrenceburg,  Ind. — His  Encouragement  of  Societies. — Love 
for  Domestic  Animals. —  "Cackling,"  His  Last  Article. — His  Last 
Request. — The  Floral  Pall  and  Wreath. — A  Work  on  Flowers,  Fruits, 
and  Farming. — Some  Interesting  Extracts. — Mistakes  He  had  Made. 
— Winter  Nights  for  Reading. — Shiftless  Tricks. — Portrait  of  an 
Anti-Book  Farmer. — Encouragement  to  Agricultural  Writing. — Ad- 
vantages of  Farm  Education. — Spring  Work  for  Public-Spirited  Men. 
— The  Farm  at  Peekskill. — A  Costly  Experiment. — His  Summer  Re- 
treat.— An  Active  Farm- Hand. 

MR.  BEECHER  acquired  a  love  for  gardening  when  he 
was  a  boy,  and  worked  in  his  father's  garden  at  his  birth- 
place at  Litchfield,  Conn.  He  was  a  student  of  the  for- 
est rather  than  of  book-lore  when  at  Rev.  Mr.  Langdon's 
school.  When  he  established  his  home  at  Lawrenceburg, 
Ind.,  his  pride  was  his  garden  attached  to  the  humble 
house  he  hired  on  the  outskirts  of  the  flourishing  little 
town.  He  tilled  the  garden  himself.  He  secured  the 
choicest  seeds,  and  sent  East  for  cuttings  of  rare  flowers 
and  fruit-trees.  His  love  for  flowers  amounted  to  a  pas- 
sion. His  pulpit  was  always  adorned  with  flowers.  He 
had  floral  treasures  displayed  in  his  church  on  every  oc- 


HORTICULTURIST   AND   FARMER.  349 

casion.  In  accordance  with  his  frequently  expressed 
wishes,  a  floral  pall  was  thrown  over  his  coffin  instead  of 
the  customary  black  cloth  ;  his  bier  was  smothered  in 
roses  and  greens  ;  a  floral  wreath  was  hung  on  the  door- 
bell instead  of  the  streamer  of  crape ;  the  church  was 
profusely  decorated  with  flowers  contributed  by  loving 
hands. 

He  never  missed  an  horticultural  or  agricultural  exhibi- 
tion in  his  neighborhood,  and  in  his  busiest  days  always 
found  time  to  join  in  the  meetings  of  the  societies.  His 
knowledge  of  horticulture,  floriculture,  and  agriculture  was 
extensive,  and  he  was  regarded  as  an  authority  on  the  sub- 
ject. In  1859  he  published  a  volume,  "  Plain  and  Pleas- 
ant Talk  about  Fruits,  Flowers,  and  Farming,"  which  is 
regarded  as  a  text-book,  and  in  which  he  displayed  va- 
ried and  comprehensive  practical  knowledge.  He  availed 
himself  of  every  opportunity  to  write  on  these  themes, 
especially  in  the  later  years  of  his  life.  His  sermons  are 
replete  with  allusions  to  his  favorite  study  and  pastime, 
and  many  of  his  most  brilliant  figures  of  speech  are  of  bo- 
tanical reference.  He  loved  all  domestic  animals,  and 
learned  their  care  in  childhood.  He  always  claimed  that 
he  was  thoroughly  en  rapport  with  all  domestic  animals, 
and  evidently  was  a  student  of  them  and  their  ways.  At 
agricultural  shows  he  would  pat  the  cows  and  fondle  the 
chickens  like  a  boy.  He  rarely  passed  a  dog  on  the 
street  without  a  kind  word  and  perhaps  a  friendly  pat 


35O      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

on  the  head.  He  was  very  fond  of  eggs  and  interested 
in  the  propagation  of  chickens.  The  last  article  he  pub- 
lished was  a  humorous  dissentation  on  the  subject  of  a 
hen's  cackle  after  laying  an  egg.  This  appeared  in  the 
Brooklyn  Eagle,  while  his  life  was  slowly  ebbing  away, 
and  was  as  follows  : 

"  CACKLING." 

Some  words  in  the  English  language  are  susceptible  of 
many  shades  of  meaning,  but  cackling  is  a  word  confined 
to  one  animal  and  to  one  functional  condition.  The 
barn-yard  fowl  has,  so  far  as  we  are  informed,  the  sole 
prerogative  of  sounding  out  over  all  the  neighborhood  the 
arrival  of  a  new  egg!  She  is  no  braggart,  boasting  of 
what  she  is  going  to  do.  Indeed,  her  performances  are 
meditated  in  profound  secrecy.  Let  no  one  notice  me, 
she  seems  to  say,  while  stealing  noiselessly  under  the  cur- 
rant bushes  or  along  a  shaded  thicket.  Is  she  searching 
for  a  choice  morsel  ?  It  would  seem  so.  A  feather  fall- 
ing through  the  air  makes  no  more  noise  than  she,  hover- 
ing darkly  about  sheltered  spots,  stealing  toward  the  mow 
with  artful  pretence  of  looking  for  a  worm.  Her  nest  ? 
It  is  curious  to  see  what  a  selection  of  places  she  makes. 
It  sometimes  is  behind  a  pile  of  wood,  or  beneath  the  edge 
of  a  hay-stack,  or  in  some  abandoned  old  wagon,  or  among 
the  trumpery  of  a  wood-house  chamber,  or  under  a  barn, 


HORTICULTURIST  AND   FARMER.  351 

not  far  into  darkness  even,  or  in  a  hole,  but  just  where 
light  melts  into  twilight. 

Although  laying  an  egg  is  a  daily  operation,  it  is  none 
the  less  a  serious  and  meditative  fact.  On  the  nest  she 
ponders  !  The  very  secret  of  living  organization  is  be- 
neath her.  Science  has  proclaimed  ab  ovo  omnia.  She 
does  not  know  this,  but  she  feels  it.  Nature  is  working 
mightily  within  her. 

But  no  sooner  is  the  nest  richer  by  an  egg  than  a  new 
act  in  the  drama  of  life  is  set.  No  more  secrecy.  No 
more  silence  or  reserve.  All  the  world  must  know  the 
good  deed  done !  If  the  nest  is  on  high  the  hen  flies 
down  with  a  queer  outcry,  between  a  scream  and  a  cackle, 
but  as  her  foot  touches  ground  the  proclamation  begins 
in  regular  form  :  "  I  have  done  it."  "  I  have  done  it." 
"  Laid  an  egg  !  "  "  Laid  an  egg  !  "  Far  off  the  tidings 
roll.  The  distant  barn-yards  sympathize  and  send  back 
congratulations.  But  at  home  !  Who  can  tell  the  joy 
which  fills  every  feathered  bosom  ?  The  stately  rooster 
expands  his  throat,  cackle  answers  cackle,  now  the 
rooster,  now  the  hen,  and  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
which  of  the  two  laid  the  egg.  After  a  while  the  silence 
is  restored  until  another  hen  comes  out  crying  "  I,  too, 
I,  too,"  and  the  unwearied  rooster  sings  bass  to  her  so- 
prano. Thus  it  goes  on  through  the  morning.  Few  birds 
lay  their  eggs  except  in  the  early  part  of  the  day. 

These  barn-yard  cries  remain  in  our  memories,  associ- 


352      LII-E   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ated  with  the  coming  on  of  spring,  with  bright  days,  after 
the  snow  has  gone  away.  The  crowing  of  a  cock  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  idea  of  morning — the  cackling  of  hens 
with  mid-forenoon. 

It  is  noticeable  that  birds  do  not  announce  their 
achievements.  They  go  off  from  their  nests  as  silently 
as  they  go  on.  Do  ducks,  monkeys,  quails,  or  pheasants, 
grouse  of  every  name,  publish  their  achievements  ? 

Nor  do  we  know  of  any  animal  that  makes  known  the 
birth  of  its  offspring.  A  calf  or  colt  is  born  and  no  word 
said  about  it.  The  fox,  the  wolf,  regard  the  fact  as 
enough.  The  lion,  perhaps,  reflects  that  the  birth  of  its 
whelp  will  be  known  soon  enough.  Man  alone  cackles — 
not  at  the  birth  of  his  offspring,  but  at  his  deeds  and 
attainments,  with  often  this  difference  :  that  a  hen  cackles 
when  an  egg  is  laid,  while  men  often  cackle  most  when 
least  has  been  performed. 

When  one  has  said  a  smart  thing  nothing  will  do  but 
he  must  tell  of  it ;  when  one  has  performed  a  feat  of  run- 
ning, skating,  batting,  his  household  must  speedily  know 
it.  The  mother  must  sweetly  cackle  all  the  wonderful 
things  that  daily  are  developed  in  the  baby.  When  two 
or  three  mothers  get  together  the  whole  air  resounds  with 
the  wonderful  deeds  of  wonderful  babies.  Men  cackle 
over  their  festivities,  candidates  cackle  before  their  con- 
stituents, ministers  cackle  of  their  churches,  and  churches 
cackle  of  their  ministers;  merchants  cackle  in  advertise- 


HORTICULTURIST  AND   FARMER.  353 

ments  ;  newspapers  cackle  ad  nauseam — of  their  sub- 
scribers, of  their  enterprise,  of  their  various  superiorities 
over  all  other  newspapers.  Indeed,  by  the  natural  opera- 
tion of  the  law  of  evolution,  cackling  has  developed  into 
a  profession,  and  reporters  are  trained  to  await  at  the 
nests  of  events  and  publish  to  all  the  world  what  eggs  the 
fecund  world  has  laid  every  twenty-four  hours  ! 

Our  cackle  is  ended,  and  we  fly  off  from  the  nest  with 
modest  consciousness  of  the  value  of  one  egg. 

In  the  volume  referred  to,  "  Plain  and  Pleasant  Talk," 
the  breezy  style  shows  that  it  was  a  work  of  love,  and 
many  of  the  articles  will  bear  reproduction  in  this  con- 
nection. We  quote  the  following  at  random  : 

NINE  MISTAKES. 

In  so  far  as  instruction  is  concerned,  I  esteem  my  mistakes  to 
be  more  valuable  than  my  successful  efforts.  They  excite  to  at- 
tention and  investigation  with  great  emphasis.  I  will  record  a 
few. 

1.  One  mistake,  which  I  record  once  for  all,  as  it  will  probably 
occur  every  year,  has  been  the  attempting  of  more  than  I  could 
do  well.     The  ardor  of  spring,  in  spite  of  experience,  lays  out  a 
larger  garden  than  can  be  well  tended  all  summer. 

2.  In  selecting  the  largest  lima  beans  for  seed,  I  obtained  most 
luxuriant  vines,  but  fewer  pods.     If  the  season  were  longer  these 
vines  would  ultimately  be  most  profitable  ;  but  their  vigor  gives  a 
growth  too  rampant  for  our  latitude.     If  planted   for  a  screen, 
however,  the  rankest  growers  are  the  best. 

3.  Of  three  successive  plantings  of  corn,  for  table  use,  the  first 


354      LIFE   AND    WORK   Of   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

was  the  best,  then  the  second,  and  the  third  very  poor.  I  hoed 
and  thinned  the  first  planting  myself,  and  thoroughly  ;  the  second 
I  left  to  a  Dutchman,  directing  him  how  to  do  it  :  the  third,  I 
left  to  him  without  directions. 

4.  I  bought  a  stock  of  roses  in  \\^Q  fall  of  the  year.     All  the  loss 
of  wintering  came  on  me.     If  purchased  in   the  spring,  the  nur- 
serymen loses,  if  there  is  loss. 

5.  I  planted  the  silver-leaved  abele   (Populus  alba}   in  a  rich 
sandy  loam,  in  which  it  made  more  wood  than  it  could  ripen. 
The  tree  was  top-heavy,  and  required  constant  staking.     A  poorer 
soil  should  have  been  selected. 

6.  I  planted  abundantly  of  flower-seeds — just  before  a  drought. 
I  neither  covered  the  earth  with  mats   nor  watered  it — supposing 
that  the  seeds  would  come  up  after  the  first  rain.     But,  in  a  cheer- 
less and  barren  garden,  I  have  learned  that  heat  will  kill  planted 
seeds,  and  that  he  who  will  be  sure  of  flowers  should  not  depend 
upon  only  one  planting. 

7.  In  the  fall  of  1843,  I  took  up  the  bulbs  of  tuberoses,  and  win- 
tered them  safely  upon  the  tops  of  bookcases  in  a  warm  study. 
Having  a  better  and  larger  stock  in  1844,  I  would  fain  be  yet  more 
careful,  and  packed  them  in  dry  sand,  and  put  them  in  a  closet 
beyond  the  reach  of  frost.     On   opening  them  in  the  spring  all 
were  rotted  save  about  half  a  dozen.     Hereafter,  I  shall  try  the 
bookcase. 

8.  We  are  told  that  glazed  or  painted  flower-pots  are  not  desir- 
able, because,  refusing  a  passage  to  superfluous  moisture,  they 
leave  the  roots  to  become  sodden.     In  small  stove-heated  parlors, 
the  evaporation  is  so  great  that  glazed  or  painted  flower-pots  are 
best,  because  the  danger  is  of  dryness  rather  than  dampness  in  all 
plants  growing  in  sandy  loams  or  composts. 

9.  I  have   resolved  every  summer  for  three  years   to  cut  pea- 


HORTICULTURIST  AND   FARMER.  355 

brush  during  the  winter  and  stack  it  in  the  shed  ;  and  every  sum- 
mer following,  not  having  kept  the  vow,  I  have  lacked  pea-brush ; 
being  too  busy  to  get  it  when  it  was  needed,  I  have  allowed  the 
crop  to  suffer. 

WINTER  NIGHTS  FOR  READING. 

As  the  winter  is  a  season  of  comparative  leisure,  it  is  the  time 
for  farmers  to  study.  It  is  a  good  time  for  them  to  make  them- 
selves acquainted  with  the  nature  of  soils,  of  manures,  of  vege- 
table organization — or  structural  botany.  Farmers  are  liable  to 
rely  wholly  upon  their  own  experience  and  to  despise  science. 
Book  men  are  apt  to  rely  on  scientific  theories,  and  nothing  upon 
practice.  If  these  two  tendencies  would  only  court  and  marry 
each  other,  what  a  hopeful  family  would  they  rear  !  How  nice  it 
would  look  to  see  in  the  papers  : 

MARRIED. — By  Philosophical  Wisdom,  Esq.,  Mr.  Practical 
Experience,  to  Miss  Sober  Science,  f  We  will  stand  godfather  to 
all  the  children.] 

SHIFTLESS  TRICKS. 

To  let  the  cattle  fodder  themselves  at  the  stack  ;  they  pull  out 
and  trample  more  than  they  eat.  They  eat  till  the  edge  of  appe- 
tite is  gone,  and  then  daintily  pick  the  choice  parts  ;  the  residue, 
being  coarse  and  refuse,  they  will  not  afterward  touch. 

To  sell  half  a  stack  of  hay  and  leave  the  lower  half  open  to  rain 
and  snow.  In  feeding  out,  a  hay  knife  should  be  used  on  the 
stack  ;  in  selling,  either  dispose  of  the  whole,  or  remove  that 
which  is  left  to  a  shed  or  barn. 

It  is  a  shiftless  trick  to  lie  about  stores  and  groceries,  arguing 
with  men  that  you  have  no  time,  in  a  new  country,  for  nice  farm- 
IS* 


356      LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ing— for  making  good  fences  ;  for  smooth  meadows  without  a 
stump  ;  for  draining  wet  patches  which  disfigure  fine  fields. 

To  raise  your  own  frogs  in  your  own  yard  ;  to  permit,  year  after 
year,  a  dirty,  stinking,  mantled  puddle  to  stand  before  your  fence 
in  the  street. 

To  plant  orchards,  and  allow  your  cattle  to  eat  the  trees  up. 
When  gnawed  down,  to  save  your  money,  by  trying  to  nurse  the 
stubs  into  good  trees,  instead  of  getting  fresh  ones  from  the 
nursery. 

To  allow  an  orchard  to  have  blank  spaces,  where  trees  have 

died,  and  when  the  living  trees  begin  to  bear,  to  wake  up  and  put 

* 
young  whips  in  the  vacant  spots. 

It  is  very  shiftless  to  build  your  barn-yard  so  that  every  rain  shall 
drain  it  ;  to  build  your  privy  and  dig  your  well  close  together  ;  to 
build  a  privy  of  more  than  seven  feet  square — some  shiftless  folks 
have  it  of  the  size  of  the  whole  yard  ;  to  set  it  in  the  most  exposed 
spot  on  the  premises  ;  to  set  it  at  the  very  far  end  of  the  garden, 
for  the  pleasure  of  traversing  mud-puddles  and  labyrinths  of  wet 
weeds  in  rainy  days. 

A  lady  of  our  acquaintance,  at  a  boarding-house,  excited  some 
fears  among  her  friends,  by  foaming  at  the  mouth,  of  madness. 
In  eating  a  hash  (made,  doubtless,  of  every  scrap  from  the  table, 
not  consumed  the  day  before),  she  found  herself  blessed  with  a 
mouthful  of  hard  soap,  which  only  lathered  the  more,  the  more 
she  washed  at  it.  It  is  a  filthy  thing  to  comb  one's  hair  in  a  small 
kitchen  in  the  intervals  of  cooking  the  breakfast ;  to  use  the 
bread-trough  for  a  cradle — a  thing  which  we  have  undoubtedly 
seen  ;  to  put  trunks,  boxes,  baskets,  with  sundry  other  utensils, 
under  the  bed  where  you  keep  the  cake  for  company  ;  we  have 
seen  a  dexterous  housewife  whip  the  bed-spread  aside  and  bring 
forth  a  loaf-cake. 


HORTICULTURIST  AND   FARMER.  357 

* 
It  is  a  dirty  trick  to  wash  children's  eyes  in  the  pudding  dish  ; 

not  that  the  sore  eyes,  but  subsequent  puddings,  will  not  be  bene- 
fited ;  to  wipe  dishes  and  spoons  on  a  hand-towel ;  to  wrap  warm 
bread  in  a  dirty  table-cloth  ;  to  make  and  mould  bread  on  a  table 
innocent  of  washing  for  weeks  ;  to  use  dirty  table-cloths  for  sheets , 
a  practice  of  which  we  have  had  experimental  knowledge  once  at 
least  in  our  lives. 

The  standing  plea  of  all  slatterns  and  slovens  is,  that  "every- 
body must  eat  a  peck  of  dirt  before  they  die."  A  peck  ?  that 
would  be  a  mercy,  a  mere  mouthful,  in  comparison  of  cooked  cart- 
loads of  dirt  which  is  to  be  eaten  in  steamboats,  canal-boats,  tav- 
erns, mansions,  huts,  and  hovels. 

It  is  a  shiftless  trick  to  snuff  a  candle  with  your  fingers,  or  your 
wife's  best  scissors,  to  throw  the  snuff  on  the  carpet,  or  on  the 
polished  floor,  and  then  to  extinguish  it  by  treading  on  it ! 

To  borrow  a  choice  book  ;  to  read  it  with  unwashed  hands,  that 
have  been  used  in  the  charcoal  bin,  and  finally  to  return  it  daubed 
on  every  leaf  with  nose-blood  spots,  tobacco-spatter,  and  dirty 
finger-marks — this  is  a  vile  trick  ! 

It  is  not  altogether  cleanly  to  use  one's  knife  to  scrape  boots,  to 
cut  harness,  to  skin  cats,  to  cut  tobacco,  and  then  to  cut  apples 
which  other  people  are  to  eat. 

It  is  an  unthrifty  trick  to  bring  in  eggs  from  the  barn  in  one's 
coat-pocket,  and  then  to  sit  down  on  them. 

It  is  a  filthy  trick  to  borrow  of  or  lend  for  others'  use,  a  tooth- 
brush, or  a  toothpick ;  to  pick  one's  teeth  at  table  with  a  fork,  or 
a  jack-knife  ;  to  put  your  hat  upon  the  dinner-table  among  the 
dishes  ;  to  spit  generously  into  the  fire,  or  at  it,  while  the  hearth 
is  covered  with  food  set  to  warm  ;  for  sometimes  a  man  hits  what 
he  don't  aim  at. 

It  is  an  unmannerly  trick  to  neglect  the  scraper  outside  the 


LIFE  AND   WORK   OF  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 


door,  but  to  be  scrupulous  in  cleaning  your  feet  after  you  get  in- 
side, on  the  caipet,  rug,  or  andirons  ;  to  bring  your  drenched  um- 
brella into  the  entry,  where  a  black  puddle  may  leave  to  the  house- 
wife melancholy  evidence  that  you  have  been  there. 

It  is  soul-trying  for  a  neat  dairy-woman  to  see  her  "man  "  water- 
ing the  horse  out  of  her  milk-bucket  ;  or  filtering  horse-medicine 
through  her  milk-strainer  ;  or  feeding  his  hogs  with  her  water- 
pail  ;  or,  after  barn-work,  to  set  the  well-bucket  outside  the  curb 
and  wash  his  hands  out  of  it. 

PORTRAIT  OF  AN  ANTI-BOOK  FARMER. 

WHENEVER  our  anti-book  farmers  can  show  us  better  crops  at 
a  less  expense,  better  flocks,  and  better  farms,  and  better  owners 
on  them,  than  book  farmers  can,  we  shall  become  converts  to 
their  doctrines.  But,  as  yet,  we  cannot  see  how  intelligence  in  a 
farmer  should  injure  his  crops.  Nor  what  difference  it  makes 
whether  a  farmer  gets  his  ideas  from  a  sheet  of  paper,  or  from  a 
neighbor's  mouth,  or  from  his  own  experience,  so  that  he  only 
gets  good,  practical,  sound  ideas.  A  farmer  never  objects  to  re- 
ceive political  information  from  newspapers  ;  he  is  quite  willing  to 
learn  the  state  of  markets  from  newspapers,  and  as  willing  to  gain 
religious  notions  from  reading,  and  historical  knowledge,  and  all 
sorts  of  information  except  that  which  relates  to  his  business.  He 
will  go  over  and  hear  a  neighbor  tell  how  he  prepares  his  wheat- 
lands,  how  he  selects  and  puts  in  his  seed,  how  he  deals  with  his 
grounds  in  -spring,  in  harvest,  and  after  harvest-time  ;  but  if  that 
neighbor  should  write  it  all  down  carefully  and  put  it  into  paper, 
it's  all  poison  !  it's  book  farming  ! 

"Strange  such  a  difference  there  should  be 
'Twixt  tweedledum  and  tweedledee." 


HORTICULTURIST  AND   FARMER.  359 

If  I  raise  a  head  of  lettuce  surpassing  all  that  has  been  seen 
hereabouts,  every  good  farmer  that  loves  a  salad  would  send  for  a 
little  seed,  and  ask,  as  he  took  it,  "  How  do  you  contrive  to  raise 
such  monstrous  heads  ?  you  must  have  some  secret  about  it." 
But  if  my  way  were  written  down  and  printed,  he  would  not  touch 
it.  "  Poh,  it's  bookish  !  " 

Now  let  us  inquire  in  what  States  land  is  the  best  managed, 
yields  the  most  with  the  least  cost,  where  are  the  best  sheep,  the 
best  cattle,  the  best  hogs,  the  best  wheat  ?  It  will  be  found  to  be 
in  those  States  having  the  most  agricultural  societies  and  the  most 
widely  disseminated  agricultural  papers. 

What  is  there  in  agriculture  that  requires  a  man  to  be  ignorant 
if  he  will  be  skilful  ?  Or  why  may  every  other  class  of  men  learn 
by  reading  except  the  farmer  ?  Mechanics  have  their  journals  ; 
commercial  men  have  their  papers  ;  religious  men,  theirs  ;  poli- 
ticians, theirs  ;  there  are  magazines  and  journals  for  the  arts,  for 
science,  for  education,  and  why  not  for  that  grand  pursuit  on 
which  all  these  stand?  We  really  could  never  understand  why 
farmers  should  not  wish  to  have  their  vocation  on  a  level  with 
others  ;  why  they  should  feel  proud  to  have  no  paper,  while  every 
other  pursuit  is  fond  of  having  one. 

Those  who  are  prejudiced  against  book  farming  are  either  good 
farmers,  misinformed  of  the  design  of  agricultural  papers,  or  poor 
farmers  who  only  treat  this  subject  as  they  do  all  others,  with  blun- 
dering ignorance.  First,  the  good  farmers  ;  there  are  in  every 
country  many  industrious,  hard-working  men,  who  know  that  they 
cannot  afford  to  risk  anything  upon  wild  experiments.  They  have 
a  growing  family  to  support,  taxes  to  pay,  lands  perhaps  on  which 
purchase  money  is  due,  or  they  are  straining  every  nerve  to  make 
their  crops  build  a  barn,  that  the  barn  may  hold  their  crops.  They 
suppose  an  agricultural  paper  to  be  stuffed  full  of  wild  fancies, 


360      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

expensive  experiments,  big  stories  made  up  by  men  who  know  of 
no  farming  except  parlor  farming.  They  would,  doubtless,  be 
surprised  to  learn  that  ninety-nine  parts  in  a  hundred  of  the  con- 
tents of  agricultural  papers  are  written  by  hard-working  practical 
farmers  /  that  the  editor's  business  is  not  to  foist  absurd  stories 
upon  credulous  readers,  but  to  sift  stories,  to  scrutinize  accounts, 
to  obtain  whatever  has  been  abundantly  proved  to  be  fact,  and  to 
reject  all  that  is  suspected  to  be  mere  fanciful  theory.  Such  papers 
are  designed  to  prevent  imposition  ;  to  kill  off  pretenders  by  ex- 
posing them  ;  to  search  out  from  practical  men  whatever  they  have 
found  out,  and  to  publish  it  for  the  benefit  of  their  brethren  all 
over  the  Union  ;  to  spread  before  the  laboring  classes  such  sound, 
well-approved  scientific  knowledge  as  shall  throw  light  upon  every 
operation  of  the  farm,  the  orchard,  and  the  garden. 

The  other  class  who  rail  at  book  farming  ought  to  be  excused, 
for  they  do  not  treat  book  farming  any  worse  than  they  do  their 
own  farming  ;  indeed,  not  half  so  bad.  They  rate  the  paper  with 
their  tongue  ;  but  cruelly  abuse  their  ground,  for  twelve  months 
in  the  year,  with  both  hands.  I  will  draw  the  portrait  of  a  genuine 
anti-book  farmer  of  this  last  sort. 

He  ploughs  three  inches  deep  lest  he  should  turn  up  the  poison 
that,  in  his  estimation,  lies  below  ;  his  wheat-land  is  ploughed  so  as 
to  keep  as  much  water  on  it  as  possible  ;  he  sows  two  bushels  to 
the  acre  and  reaps  ten,  so  that  it  takes  a  fifth  of  his  crop  to  seed 
his  ground  ;  his  corn-land  has  never  any  help  from  him,  but  bears 
just  what  it  pleases,  which  is  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  bushels  by 
measurement,  though  he  brags  that  it  is  fifty  or  sixty.  His  hogs, 
if  not  remarkable  for  fattening  qualities,  would  beat  old  Eclipse 
at  a  quarter-race  ;  and  were  the  man  not  prejudiced  against  deep 
ploughing,  his  hogs  would  work  his  grounds  better  with  their  prodig- 
ious snouts  than  he  does  with  his  jack-knife  plough.  His  meadow- 


HORTICULTURIST   AND   FARMER.  361 

lands  yield  him  from  three-quarters  of  a  ton  to  a  whole  ton  of  hay, 
which  is  regularly  spoiled  in  curing,  regularly  left  out  for  a  month, 
very  irregularly  stacked  up,  and  left  for  the  cattle  to  pull  out  at 
their  pleasure,  and  half  eat  and  half  trample  underfoot.  His  horses 
would  excite  the  avarice  of  an  anatomist  in  search  of  osteological 
specimens,  and  returning  from  their  range  of  pasture  they  are 
walking  herbariums,  bearing  specimens  in  their  mane  and  tail  of 
every  weed  that  bears  a  bur  or  cockle.  But  oh,  the  cows !  If 
held  up  in  a  bright  day  to  the  sun,  don't  you  think  they  would  be 
semi-transparent  ?  But  he  tells  us  that  good  milkers  are  always 
poor  !  His  cows  get  what  Providence  sends  them,  and  very  little 
besides,  except  in  winter — then  they  have  a  half-peck  of  corn  on  ears 
a  foot  long  thrown  to  them,  and  they  afford  lively  spectacles  of 
animated  corn  and  cob  crushers  ;  never  mind,  they  yield,  on  an 
average,  three  quarts  of  milk  a  day  !  and  that  milk  yields  varieties 
of  butter  quite  astonishing. 

His  farm  never  grows  any  better,  in  many  respects  it  gets  annu- 
ally worse.  After  ten  years'  work  on  a  good  soil,  while  his  neigh- 
bors have  grown  rich,  he  is  just  where  he  started,  only  his  house 
is  dirtier,  his  fences  more  tottering,  his  soil  poorer,  his  pride  and 
his  ignorance  greater.  And  when,  at  last,  he  sells  out  to  a  Penn- 
sylvanian  that  reads  the  Farmers1  Cabinet,  or  to  some  New  Yorker 
svith  his  Cultivator  packed  up  carefully  as  if  it  were  gold,  or  to  a 
Yankee  with  his  New  England  Farmer,  he  goes  off  to  Missouri, 
thanking  Heaven  that  he's  not  a  book  farmer ! 

Unquestionably,  there  are  two  sides  to  this  question,  and  both 
of  them  extremes,  and  therefore  both  of  them  deficient  in  science 
and  in  common-sense.  If  men  were  made  according  to  our  no- 
tions, there  should  not  be  a  silly  one  alive  ;  but  it  is  otherwise 
ordered,  and  there  is  no  department  of  human  life  in  which  we  do 
not  find  weak  and  foolish  men.  This  is  true  of  farming  as  much 


362      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

as  of  any  other  calling.  But  no  one  dreams  of  setting  down  the 
vocation  of  agriculture  because,  like  every  other,  it  has  its  propor- 
tion of  stupid  men. 

Why,  then,  should  agricultural  writers,  as  a  class,  be  summarily 
rejected  because  some  of  them  are  visionary  ?  Are  we  not  to  be 
allowed  our  share  of  fools  as  well  as  every  other  department  of 
life  ?  We  insist  on  our  rights. 

A  book  or  a  paper  never  proposes  to  take  the  place  of  a  farmer's 
judgment.  Not  to  read  at  all  is  bad  enough  ;  but  to  read,  and 
swallow  everything  without  reflection,  or  discrimination,  this  is 
even  worse.  Such  a  one  is  not  a  book-headed  but  a  block-headed 
farmer.  Papers  are  designed  to  assist.  f  Those  who  read  them  must 
select,  modify,  and  act  according  to  their  own  native  judgment. 
So  used,  papers  answer  a  double  purpose  ;  they  convey  a  great 
amount  of  valuable  practical  information,  and  then  they  stir  up 
the  reader  to  habits  of  thought ;  they  make  him  more  inquisitive, 
more  observing,  more  reasoning,  and,  therefore,  more  reasonable. 

SPRING  WORK  FOR  PUBLIC-SPIRITED  MEN. 

SHADE  TREES. — One  of  the  first  things  that  will  require  your 
action  is  the  planting  of  shade  trees.  Get  your  neighbors  to  join 
with  you.  Agree  to  do  four  times  as  much  as  your  share,  and  you 
will  perhaps  then  obtain  some  help.  Try  to  get  some  more  to 
do  the  same  in  each  street  of  your  village  or  town. 

Locusts,  of  course,  you  will  set  for  immediate  shade.  They  will 
in  three  years  afford  you  a  delightful  verdant  umbrella  as  long  as 
the  street.  But  maples  form  a  charming  row,  and  the  autumnal 
tints  of  their  leaves  and  the  spring  flowers  add  to  their  beauty. 
They  grow  quite  rapidly,  and  in  six  years,  if  the  soil  is  good  and 
the  trees  properly  set,  they  will  begin  to  cast  a  decided  shadow. 


HORTICULTURIST  AND   FARMER.  363 

Elms  are  by  far  the  noblest  tree  that  can  be  set,  but  they  will 
have  their  own  time  to  grow.  It  is  best  then  to  set  them  in  a  row 
of  other  trees,  at  about  fifty  or  a  hundred  feet  apart,  the  interven- 
ing space  to  be  occupied  with  quicker-growing  varieties. 

The  beech,  buckeye,  horse-chestnut,  sycamore,  chestnut,  and 
many  others  may  be  employed  with  advantage.  Now,  do  not  let 
your  court-house  square  look  any  longer  so  barren. 

Avenues  may  be  lined  with  rows  of  trees,  but  squares  and  open 
spaces  should  have  them  grouped  or  scattered  in  small  knots  and 
parcels  in  a  more  natural  manner. 

MAY-WEED. — There  was  never  a  better  time  to  exterminate  this 
villanous,  stinking  weed  than  summer-time  will  be.  Just  as  soon 
as  the  first  blossoms  show,  "  up  and  at  it."  Club  together  in  your 
streets  and  agree  to  spend  one  day  a-mowing.  Keep  it  down  thor- 
oughly for  one  season  and  it  will  no  longer  bedrabble  your  wife's 
and  daughter's  dresses,  nor  fill  the  air  with  its  pungent  stench,  nor 
weary  the  eye  with  its  everlasting  white  and  yellow.  . 

SIDEWALKS. — What  if  your  neighbors  are  lazy  ?  what  if  they  do 
not  care  ?  Someone  ought  to  see  that  there  are  good  gravel-walks 
in  each  village.  You  can  have  them  in  this  way  :  Take  your  horse 
and  cart  and  make  them  before  your  own  grounds,  and  then  go  on, 
no  matter  who  owns,  and  when  your  neighbors  see  that  you  have 
public  spirit,  they  will,  by-and-by,  be  ready  to  help  you.  But  the 
grand  way  to  do  nothing  is  not  to  lift  a  finger  yourself,  and  then 
to  rail  at  your  fellow-citizens  as  selfish  and  devoid  of  all  public 
spirit. 

PROTECT  PUBLIC  PROPERTY.— What  if  it  does  concern  every- 
body else  as  much  as  it  does  you  ?  Someone  ought  to  see  that  the 
fences  about  every  square  are  kept  in  repair.  Someone  ought  to 
save  the  trees  from  cattle  ;  someone  ought  to  have  things  in  such 
trim  as  that  the  inhabitants  can  be  proud  of  their  own  town.  Pride 


364      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRV   WARD   BEECHER. 

is  not  decent  when  there  is  nothing  to  be  proud  of ;  but  when  things 
are  worthy  of  it,  no  man  can  be  decent  who  is  devoid  of  a  proper 
pride.  The  church,  the  school-house,  fences,  trees,  bridges,  roads, 
public  squares,  sidewalks — these  are  things  which  tell  tales  about 
people.  A  stranger,  seeking  a  location,  can  hardly  think  well  of  a 
place  in  which  the  distinction  between  the  house  and  sty  are  not 
obvious  ;  in  which  everyone  is  lazy  when  greediness  does  not  ex- 
cite him,  and  where  general  indolence  leaves  no  time  to  think  of 
the  public  good. 

When  politicians  are  on  the  point  of  dissolving  in  the  very  fer- 
vent heat  of  their  love  for  the  public,  it  would  recall  the  fainting 
soul  quicker  than  hartshorn  or  vinegar  to  ask  them — Did  you  ever 
set  out  a  shade-tree  in  the  street  ?  Did  you  ever  take  an  hour's 
pains  about  your  own  village  ?  Have  you  secured  it  a  lyceum  ? 
Have  you  watched  over  its  schools  ?  Have  you  aided  in  any  ar- 
rangements for  the  relief  of  the  poor  ?  Have  you  shown  any  prac- 
tical zeal  for  good  roads,  good  bridges,  good  sidewalks,  good  school- 
houses,  good  churches  ?  Have  the  young  men  in  your  place  a 
public  library  ? 

If  the  question  were  put  to  many  distinguished  village  patriots, 
What  have  you  done  for  the  public  good  ? — the  answer  would  be  : 
"  Why,  I've  talked  till  I'm  hoarse,  and  an  ungrateful  public  refuses 
me  any  office  by  which  I  may  show  my  love  of  public  affairs  in  a 
more  practical  manner." 

It  was  not,  however,  until  Mr.  Beecher,  some  fourteen 
years  ago,  located  his  famous  summer  retreat  at  Peeks- 
kill  on  the  Hudson  that  he  was  able  to  fully  indulge 
his  tastes  for  horticulture  and  agriculture.  Here  he  had 
a  model  farm  ;  all  the  choicest  and  rarest  varieties  of  fruits 


HORTICULTURIST  AND   FARMER.  365 

and  flowers,  all  the  latest  improvements  in  stables,  hen- 
houses, implements,  and  systems — an  experiment  and  a 
pastime  that  cost  him  an  outlay  of  over  $300,000.  He 
always  passed  his  summers  here,  finding  relief  in  the  sa- 
lubrious atmosphere  from  the  hay  fever  which  he  was 
annually  afflicted  with  after  his  indisposition  in  1850.  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  the  scientific  farming  he 
pursued  made  the  crops  he  grew,  and  the  animals  he  bred, 
cost  him  more  than  he  could  have  purchased  them  for  in 
the  neighboring  markets.  No  school-boy  ever  passed  a 
more  congenial  vacation  than  his  summer  sojourn  here, 
as  he  always  took  an  active  interest  in  the  farm-work. 

He  paid  the  architect,  superintended  the  erection  of 
the  finest  residence  of  its  type  on  the  North  River,  fur- 
nished it  richly  with  every  known  convenience  and  all  at- 
tainable luxuries,  and  paid  for  every  bit  of  it  with  money 
made  since  that  time  by  lecturing  from  Maine  to  Califor- 
nia. The  house  stands  on  the  crest  of  a  lofty  hill  in 
Peekskill,  and  is  reached  by  a  long  and  winding  drive 
through  magnificent  trees,  which  line  it  on  either  hand. 
From  the  broad  piazzas  can  be  seen  the  range  of  distant 
mountains  and  the  silver  thread  of  the  Hudson  not  far 
off.  Peace  reigns  in  all  the  region  round  about,  and  in 
that  deliciously  restful  atmosphere  a  visitor  found  the 
venerable  pastor  on  his  seventieth  birthday,  pen  in  hand, 
preparing  data  for  his  lecture  duty  near  at  hand.  He 
was  the  picture  of  health,  as  with  characteristic  cor- 


366      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

diality  he  rose  and  welcomed  his  guests  to  heart  and 
home.  His  workshop  and  library  are  the  beau-ideal  of 
comfort  and  temptation  to  duty.  Tables,  books, -electric 
lights,  deep  Turkish  rugs,  ample  chairs,  and  all  the  para- 
phernalia of  workmanship  abound.  He  was  a  most  hos- 
pitable host  here,  and  since  the  annual  encampment  of 
the  State  militia  in  the  vicinage,  his  residence  was 
always  a  Mecca  to  the  members  of  the  Brooklyn  regi- 
ments. He  always  visited  the  encampment,  especially 
of  the  Brooklyn  regiments,  and  always  preached  on 
Sundays  to  his  own  regiment  (the  Thirteenth). 

Speaking  of  the  summer  home  at  Peekskill,  a  visitor, 
writing  to  the  Boston  Transcript,  alludes  to  his  botanical 
knowledge  and  love  for  birds  in  the  following  narrative  : 

"  Mr.  Beecher's  summer  home  at  Peekskill  was  a  source 
of  great  delight  to  him.  Here  he  had  a  very  large  and 
choice  collection  of  fruit-trees,  flowers,  and  shrubbery, 
and  in  walking  about  the  place  with  friends  he  would 
tell,  without  hesitation,  the  scientific  names  of  each  one 
of  the  numerous  varieties,  and  his  technical  descriptions 
of  them,  given  in  an  easy  conversational  way,  were  ex- 
ceedingly interesting.  Indeed,  many  of  his  sermons  were 
suggested  by  what  he  found  in  his  '  breathing  place,'  as 
he  called  his  Peekskill  home.  As  an  illustration  of  his 
generous  nature  may  be  cited  an  incident  which  occurred 
when  he  first  moved  to  the  place.  Near  the  house  were 
two  or  three  cherry-trees,  from  which  the  fruit  was  freely 


HORTICULTURIST   AND   FARMER.  367 

stolen  by  birds.  When  his  attention  was  called  to  this, 
he  said  :  '  I  will  tell  you  how  we  will  fix  these  birds. 
We  will  go  right  to  work  and  plant  fifteen  or  twenty 
trees,  and  then  we  shall  have  enough  cherries  for  the 
birds  and  ourselves,  too.' " 

"  There  is  one  curious  place,"  said  an  old  friend,  "  at 
Mr.  Beecher's  country  home  in  Peekskill  which  I  think 
very  few  people  know  anything  about.  I  discovered  it 
accidentally  one  summer,  while  making  a  journey  on  foot 
through  the  upper  part  of  the  State.  It  was  late  one 
afternoon  that  I  found  myself  on  a  hill  overlooking  a 
country  residence  which  I  afterward  discovered  was  the 
great  preacher's.  On  a  level  piece  of  ground  between 
me  and  the  house  was  a  high  mound  of  small  stones 
which  had  evidently  been  carefully  placed  there,  and  in 
a  few  minutes  I  discovered  by  whom.  A  short,  fat  man, 
clad  in  a  long  duster  and  a  sun  hat,  came  out  of  the 
house  and  walked  over  to  the  pyramid.  Then  he  looked 
around  on  the  ground  and  presently  started  off  on  a  brisk 
walk  for  a  distance  of  fifty  yards,  when  he  stooped  down, 
and  picking  up  a  stone,  carried  it  back  to  the  mound. 
Then  he  started  off  after  another  one  and  kept  that  ex- 
ercise up  for  fifteen  minutes,  when  his  journeys  brought 
him  up  to  the  tree  behind  which  I  had  placed  myself,  and 
I  saw  that  it  was  Mr.  Beecher.  He  recognized  me  at  the 
same  time,  and  started  the  laugh,  in  which,  of  course,  I 
joined.  Then  he  took  me  to  his  '  monument,'  as  he 


368      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BBECHER. 

called  it,  and  explained  that  he  did  all  this  work  for  ex- 
ercise. There  were  numbers  of  stones  in  the  ground  near 
him,  but  he  wouldn't  touch  those,  preferring  to  get  his 
exercise  and  his  '  monument '  at  the  same  time.  He 
made  it  a  rule  never  to  carry  back  more  than  one  stone  at 
a  time,  and  when  he  showed  me  other  similar  mounds  on 
various  portions  of  his  property  I  saw  that  he  had  col- 
lected enough  of  the  small  rocks  to  build  a  fence  around 
his  grounds." 

Another  friend  alludes  to  a  visit  to  Mr.  Beecher  at 
Peekskill  as  follows :  "  He  put  on  a  broad-brimmed  felt 
hat  and  we  walked  through  the  lanes  on  the  domain 
where  the  afternoon  sun  came  golden  through  the  gaps. 
He  knew  every  tree  and  bird  and  flower;  the  very  weeds 
and  stones  wore  a  new  air  of  companionship  on  account 
of  him.  I  think  the  birds  came  nearer  to  me  during  that 
walk  than  ever  before.  I  could  not  escape  the  conscious- 
ness of  closely  fluttering  wings. 

"  For  Nature,  too,  has  her  loves  and  her  hates.  Her 
timid  songsters  are  closer  to  some  than  to  others.  Her 
little  germs  swell  and  grow  with  alacrity  under  certain 
eyes,  and  the  mute  beauties  of  the  field  do  wave  their  tas- 
selled  caps  and  blow  their  odorous  kisses — only  to  their 
friends." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

YALE  LECTURES  ON  PREACHING. 

Causes  of  Mr.  Beecher's  Success  in  the  Pulpit. — Originality  of  Thought 
and  Expression. — His  Great  Power  of  Will. — How  the  Yale  Lectures 
were  Delivered. — Advice  to  Young  Preachers. — Constant  Study  of 
Nature  and  Men. — Aims  to  ennoble  Hearers. — Opposed  to  Perfunc- 
tory Preaching. — External  Forms  Derided. — "  Has  the  Pulpit  lost  its 
Power?" — Why  the  Question  has  Arisen. — Personal  Emotion. — 
Earnestness,  Faith,  and  Motive  Power  Essential  to  Good  Preaching. 
— Criticism  and  Questions  Invited. — "  Show  Sermons  the  Tempta- 
tion of  the  Devil." — Preaching  Should  be  adapted  to  the  Audience. 
— Antipathy  to  Pulpits. — Health  very  Important. — Extemporaneous 
Preaching.  —  System  Absolutely  Necessary.  —  Sunday-schools  the 
Young  People's  Church. — Temptations  of  Praise. — Sorrow  an  Excel- 
lent Teacher. 

MR.  BEECHER'S  success  as  a  preacher  undoubtedly  arose 
from  his  marked  originality  of  thought  and  expression, 
which  he  was  able  to  exercise  on  all  occasions  and  fre- 
quently in  a  most  unexpected  manner.  Another  charac- 
teristic of  Mr.  Beecher  was  his  will-power  :  having  made 
up  his  mind  to  succeed,  he  set  himself  to  finding  out  by 
what  means  he  could  best  attain  his  object.  Taking 
Jesus  Christ,  and  afterward  St.  Paul  and  the  Apostles,  as 
his  guides,  he  studied  the  methods  they  had  taken  to 
achieve  success,  and  the  conclusion  he  arrived  at  was 


370      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD    BEECHER. 

this  :  "  They  were  in  the  habit  of  looking  for  a  common 
ground  on  which  they  and  the  people  could  meet ;  they 
could  get  together  a  number  of  facts,  information  essen- 
tial for  the  people  to  know,  and  then  bring  to  bear  all 
their  earnestness  and  ability  in  the  presentation  of  their 
subjects."  They  knew  what  they  were  talking  about,  and 
they  were  sincere  in  their  preaching — sincere  to  the  ut- 
most fearlessness. 

With  these  guides  before  him,  and  recognizing  also  the 
advantages  of  presentation  by  parable  as  shown  in  the 
Bible,  Mr.  Beecher  set  himself  the  task  of  imitating  their 
methods.  His  life  was  a  continual  study  of  nature  and 
of  men,  and  he  acquired,  in  time,  the  use  of  analogy  to 
such  an  extent  that  he  was  never  at  a  loss  for  a  picture 
to  illustrate  any  subject  on  which  he  might  be  discours- 
ing. He  studied  originality,  and  keeping  this  object  be- 
fore him,  he  was  enabled  to  store  up  in  his  mighty  brain 
an  inexhaustible  fund  of  information  on  every  topic  of 
human  interest,  to  be  drawn  on  as  required  for  the  bene- 
fit of  his  fellow-creatures. 

Through  all  his  writings  and  sayings  this  originality 
and  minute  observation  and  thought  permeates.  We 
find  it  in  "  Norwood,"  in  his  public  lectures,  whtrever  he 
opens  his  mouth  or  takes  up  his  pen.  Numerous  records 
have  been  left  that  the  young  minister  can  take  up  with 
profit  to  aid  him  in  his  onward  course,  but  perhaps  the 
most  telling  utterances  in  this  respect  will  be  found  in 


YALE   LECTURES  ON   PREACHING.  3/1 

Mr.  Beecher's  course  of  lectures  on  "  Preaching,"  deliv- 
ered at  Yale  College  at  the  request  of  the  founder  of  the 
Lyman  Beecher  Lectureship  on  Preaching  in  1871.  For 
the  purposes  of  this  work,  it  will  suffice  to  take  a  rapid 
glance  at  Mr.  Beecher's  general  views  on  preaching  and 
the  qualifications  of  a  preacher. 

He  starts  out  with  the  principle  that  the  real  aim  of 
a  preacher  should  be  the  ennobling  of  his  hearers.  He 
has  no  sympathy  to  extend  to  perfunctory  preachers,  or 
those  who  only  took  up  the  duty  for  the  sake  of  the  sal- 
ary they  were  enabled  to  earn  in  the  work.  But  there 
is  plenty  of  encouragement  and  consolation  in  his  per- 
sonal experiences  for  such  sincere  men  who  are  earnest  in 
their  work  and  have  the  well-being  of  their  fellow-creat- 
ures truly  at  heart.  In  regard  to  pomp  and  ceremony  as 
aids  to  preaching,  Mr.  Beecher  did  not  consider  they  were 
conducive  to  good  preaching.  He  thought  that  where 
the  Church  looked  for  power  in  external  forms  preach- 
ing had  a  tendency  to  decay.  There  is  as  much  differ- 
ence, in  his  estimation,  between  the  man  who  administers 
ordinances  and  the  man  who  preaches  the  Gospel  as 
there  is  between  the  man  who  prints  a  chromo  and  the 
man  who  paints  the  picture  which  the  chromo  reproduces. 

Referring  to  the  popular  cry  of  the  decay  of  power  in 
the  pulpit,  Mr.  Beecher  says :  "  Has  the  pulpit  lost  its 
power  ?  Is  it  going  to  lose  it  ?  Are  there  agencies  of 

instruction  in  religion  dispossessing  it  of  the  public  ear? 
16 


3/2      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF    HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Was  its  power  the  fact  that  it  rose  in  an  ignorant  age 
and  that  it  has,  therefore,  by  the  very  law  of  develop- 
ment, dug  its  own  funeral  and  put  itself  out  of  power  ? 
What  is  the  power  of  the  pulpit  primarily  ?  It  is  the 
power  of  preaching ;  for  though  there  is  something  else 
in  the  minister's  life  besides  the  preaching,  this  is  its 
central  and  characteristic  element,  and  the  question  may 
therefore  be .  changed — not  '  Is  the  pulpit  losing  its 
power?'  but  'Is  preaching  losing  its  power?'  Now,  I 
hold  that  preaching  is  simply  the  extension  of  that  which 
has  existed  from  the  beginning,  and  in  all  forms  in  soci- 
ety, all  conditions  and  institutions,  it  is  the  application 
of  personal  emotion  and  thought  to  living  people.  It  is 
not  teaching  alone,  though  it  may  be  teaching  and  should 
be  teaching,  but  it  is  the  power  of  one  living  man  to  lay 
himself,  with  his  thought  and  his  emotion,  on  the  heart 
and  intelligence  of  another  living  man.  The  man  that 
means  men,  first  and  last  and  all  the  while — the  man 
with  strong,  emotive,  vitalizing  life — is  the  one  who  will 
succeed.  Earnestness,  faith,  emotive  power,  are  all  essen- 
tial attributes  to  good  preaching. 

"  I  hold  that  emotion  with  intellect,  emotion  as  the 
bow  and  the  intellect  as  the  arrow— that  is  preaching,  that 
is  the  philosophy  of  it  in  a  figure.  A  man  must  have  faith, 
or  everything  falls  dead  or  becomes  a  mere  lectureship. 
There  are  many  things  on  which  a  man  speaking  cannot 


YALE   LECTURES   ON   PREACHING.  373 

be  a  preacher.  I  could  not  gush  if  I  were  discussing  the 
question  of  crystallography ;  I  could  not  have  any  great 
emotion  to  send  home  if  I  were  dealing  with  the  higher 
mathematics.  So,  in  regard  to  many  kinds  of  truth, 
there  cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  anything  that 
goes  higher  than  lecturing.  Lecturing  is  intellectual  ex- 
position, legitimate,  indispensable  in  its  own  place,  and 
in  regard  to  its  own  subjects ;  but  preaching  is  something 
higher  than  that :  it  is  that  that  is  in  common  between 
the  preacher  and  the  hearer;  it  is  that  that  belongs  jointly 
to  the  sphere  of  thought  and  of  feeling,  and  it  has  in  it  a 
definite  purpose  or  end  in  view,  which  it  is  seeking  by 
thought  and  by  emotion  to  create  in  the  minds  of  all 
that  are  listening  to  it.  It  has  in  it,  therefore,  the  ele- 
ment of  thought  and  the  element  of  emotion,  and  the 
element  of  persuasion,  and  the  element  of  acquiescence  in 
the  audience,  for  they  act  back  and  fore,  the  preacher  on 
the  audience  and  the  audience  on  the  preacher.  Now, 
with  regard  to  this,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  it  is  the 
one  power  that  cannot  have  a  parallel,  and  that,  beginning 
in  the  lowest  conditions  of  social  life,  the  family  and  the 
friendship  and  the  school,  it  has  its  noble  development 
in  the  church  of  Christ  Jesus." 

Whenever  and  wherever  the  topic  of  preaching  was 
taken  up,  Mr.  Beecher  never  failed  to  impress  on  his  au- 
ditors the  expediency  and  advantage  of  originality — the 
art  of  dishing  up  old  matter  in  new  forms  and  with 


374      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

fresh,  vivid  illustrations.  Characteristic  of  his  sermons 
and  lectures  were  the  criticisms  and  questions  which  he 
invited  his  audiences  to  address  to  him  at  the  close  of  his 
addresses,  and  which  he  met  fearlessly  and  unflinchingly, 
and  with  the  utmost  good-nature.  On  one  occasion,  after 
a  long  series  of  questions  had  been  hurled  at  him,  he  re- 
plied :  "  Well,  I  just  begin  to  wake  up  now.  I  am  not 
afraid  of  the  whole  of  you.  I  cannot  answer  one-half 
the  questions  you  could  put.  All  I  have  got  to  say  is,  I 
would  like  to  see  you  come  and  stand  here  and  let  me 
put  questions  to  you." 

Show  sermons  he  characterized  as  the  temptation  of 
the  devil,  for  "  they  do  not  lie  in  the  plane  of  common, 
true,  Christian  ministerial  work."  Not  only  is  a  knowl- 
edge of  theology  essential  to  the  good  preacher,  but  it  is 
incumbent  on  him  to  bring  himself  up  to  the  ideal  of  the 
New  Testament.  His  knowledge  must  be  varied  and 
practical,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  put  himself  in  sym- 
pathy with  his  audience,  so  that  the  needs  and  require- 
ments of  all  can  be  met.  Again  Mr.  Beecher  says :  "  I 
think  that  a  man  going  into  the  midst  of  an  intelligent 
audience  does  not  need  to  preach  in  the  same  way  that 
he  would  if  he  were  going  out  into  the  street  in  the 
midst  of  a  dragonnade,  or  among  poor  and  ignorant  men. 
The  lower  down  you  go  in  humanity,  the  more  need 
there  is  of  emotion  in  preaching ;  but  as  you  go  up,  you 
come  to  a  line  of  people  who  are  not  injured  by  suitable 


YALE   LECTURES   ON   PREACHING.  375 

emotion ;  but  it  must  be  of  a  more  refined  kind.  They 
demand  something  more  than  emotion.  There  is  no 
reason  why  you  should  not  feed  them.  And  there  be 
many  that  go  up  still  higher.  They  are  not  only  emo- 
tive and  intelligent,  but  refined.  There  is  a  development 
of  the  element  of  beauty  in  their  life  and  thought  and 
feeling.  The  minister  ought  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the 
language  in  which  these  folks  are  born.  There  is  no 
reason  why  a  man  should  not  preach  to  the  philosophical 
in  one  way,  preach  to  the  lawyers  in  the  temple  as  if 
they  understood  higher  themes.  I  don't  mean  by  that 
that  there  is  one  Gospel  for  the  bottom,  and  another 
for  the  middle,  and  another  for  the  top,  but  that  the 
methods  by  which  you  bring  to  the  minds  of  men,  the 
doors  through  which  you  can  enter  to  their  mgral  con- 
science, are  different.  The  unchangeable  elements,  love 
to  God  and  love  to  man,  require  no  speculative,  emotive 
outpouring,  but  adaptation  comes  in." 

He  had  a  strong  antipathy  to  pulpits,  as  having  a 
tendency  to  destroy  the  personal  elements  which  he 
considered  were  so  essential  in  preaching.  To  young 
preachers  he  advised  rhetorical  drill  and  a  good  general 
training  to  prepare  them  for  their  labors.  He  also  laid 
great  stress  on  the  general  question  of  health,  in  con- 
nection with  which  he  recommended  the  exercise  of 
great  care  in  the  selection  of  diet.  A  healthy-appearing 
preacher,  he  argued,  must  necessarily  be  more  acceptable 


3/6      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

to,  and  have  greater  influence  over,  his  audiences  than  a 
weak,  sickly-looking  man. 

On  the  subject  of  extemporaneous  preaching,  he  said, 
the  only  part  that  could  be  called  extemporaneous  was 
the  external  form  ;  the  matter  must  be  the  result  of  pre- 
vious research  and  study.  Prayer  he  considered  a  great 
adjunct  to  preaching,  and,  indeed,  its  secret  of  strength. 
The  prayer-meeting  was  a  great  aid  to  the  pastor,  and 
besides  helping  to  bring  the  people  together,  and  devel- 
oping power  in  the  congregation,  it  helped  the  pastor  to 
a  knowledge  of  his  people. 

On  the  question  of  system,  he  says  : 

"  Every  man  ought  to  have  a  system.  He  ought  to 
have  the  high  Calvinistic  view,  although  it  is  measured 
the  other  way,  I  think.  He  ought  to  have  the  High 
Church  view  in  all  the  different  denominations,  and  the 
Low  Church  view,  or  any  of  them.  Pick  out  any  of 
them,  but  see  to  it  that  you  get  the  heart  right,  for  the 
heart  is  that  element  that,  when  it  exists  in  reality  and 
power,  corrects  all  theology  practically.  It  certainly  is 
the  case  that  it  is  the  man  and  his  life  and  his  disposition 
that  are  God's  theology  in  the  ministry.  And  if  to  this 
you  have  added  corrected  intellectual  ideas,  frameworks, 
and  systems,  as  every  thinking  man  will  and  must  for 
himself,  why,  all  the  better,  but  I  tell  you  that  hetero- 
doxy with  a  right  heart  under  it  is  better  than  orthodoxy 
with  a  malign  heart  under  it.  Take  the  apostolic  sieve. 


YALE   LECTURES   ON    PREACHING.  377 

Paul  did  not  object  to  eloquence,  nor  to  learning,  nor  to 
wisdom  in  any  form,  but  he  sifted  them  all  out  and  kept 
saying  to  one  and  another  and  another,  '  Though  I  have 
the  tongues  of  men  and  angels  and  have  not  love,  I  am 
nothing.'  Sift  out  that  and  sift  out  that.  You  might 
sift  out  two-thirds  of  all  tke  glory  among  men,  and  if  love 
is  left  behind  you  are  rich  ;  and  you  might  have  all  these 
things,  and  if  love  is  left  out  they  are  no  profit  to  you 
whatever.  I  am  not,  therefore,  for  undenominationalizing 
men.  I  believe  in  sects.  I  believe  that  the  Baptists 
ought  to  be  Baptists  simply  because  they  think  so,  and 
as  a  man  thinketh  so  is  he.  I  think  that  the  Calvinist 
that  is  genuinely  misled  into  that  ought  to  stand  by  his 
guns ;  I  think  the  Presbyterian  Church  ought  to  be  a 
Presbyterian,  and  the  Methodist  Church  ought  to  be  a 
Methodist,  and  the  Episcopal  Church  ought  to  be  Epis- 
copal, and  the  Congregational ist  ought  to  be  Congrega- 
tional ;  they,  of  all  men  in  the  world,  have  reason  to  be 
proud  of  their  Congregationalism  and  to  stand  by  it. 
But  let  not  Ephraim  vex  Judah,  let  not  one  mash  against 
the  other  ;  love  men  in  that  respect.  There  is  one  thing 
that  belongs  to  them  altogether — love  with  a  pure  heart 
fervently  and  I  will  trust  any  misleading  doctrine  or  any 
ordinance  or  any  worship  if  it  stands  with  the  burning 
bush  of  love  showing  that  the  Lord  God  Almighty  is 
present  within." 

Sunday  schools    he    considered    the    young    people's 


3/8      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

church,  and  religion  should  be  made  joyful  to  children. 
"  There  is  no  danger  in  religious  excitement  brought 
abouj  by  revivals,  any  more  than  there  is  in  political  ex- 
citements and  business  excitements,  and  the  result  ob- 
tained is  frequently  great,  and  they  have  a  tendency  to 
raise  the  tone  of  church  piety,  which  is  apt  to  become 
stagnant  for  want  of  stirring  up." 

Young  preachers  are  warned  against  the  temptation  of 
praise.  "  We  all  love  praise,  but  praise  should  follow  us 
and  never  precede  us.  If  you  have  done  right  and  men 
like  it,  then  it  comes  under  the  category  of  things  that 
are  of  '  good  report,'  which  we  are  commanded  to  pon- 
der and  to  think  upon  ;  but  see  to  it  that  your  aspira- 
tions are  not  for  praise,  but  for  the  welfare  of  man  and 
the  glory  of  God,  and  then  if  praise  comes,  well  and 
good  ;  but  remember  you  are  going  into  the  midst  of  fire 
with  imflammable  garments  on  you,  and  there  is  nothing 
that  weakens  a  man  so  quickly  and  is  so  dangerous  to 
him  as  measuring  everything  by  its  relation  to  its  popu- 
larity and  to  his  success  in  life.  It  is  dangerous  even  to 
damnableness !  And  then  he,  the  man,  has  his  own 
church  to  try  to  spoil  him.  Of  course,  God  raises  up 
deacons  by  whom  men  are  held  in  sometimes.  Often- 
times in  this  world  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  is  one  thorn  for 
a  man's  crown  by-and-by ;  but  where  there  is  one  dea- 
con that  is  a  vexatious  intruder  on  your  individual  liberty 
there  are  a  hundred  old  women  or  young  women  that  are 


YALE  LECTURES  ON   PREACHING.  379 

praising  you  and  flattering  you,  saying  kind  things  to  you 
and  seeking  to  soften  you.  I  believe  in  softness  in  the 
heart ;  but  I  do  not  believe  in  having  a  man's  head  soft. 
That  is  one  of  the  things  you  must  watch  against." 

He  comforts  those  in  suffering,  sorrow,  and  disappoint- 
ment, and  says : 

"  There  are  many  men  that  are  not  fit  to  be  preachers 
until  they  have  gone  through  the  path  of  suffering  and 
sorrow.  Your  mortification  and  ill-success,  instead  of 
dissuading  you  from  the  Gospel  ministry,  should  lead 
you  to  say  to  yourself,  "  I  am  being  baptized  with  the 
baptism  wherewith  He  was  baptized,"  and  hold  on. 
The  day  is  short  ;  do  not  be  troubled.  But  oh,  my 
young  brethren,  my  heart  yearns  for  you  when  I  look 
out  and  see  into  what  varied  experience  you  are  going 
and  what  the  work  has  been  in  this  world.  I  have  a 
father's,  feeling  for  his  sons  toward  you,  and  I  commit 
you  to  the  care  of  Him  who  cared  for  me,  Him  who 
loves  you  and  me ;  and  I  say  to  you,  whatever  checkered 
way  your  life  may  have  in  it,  there  is  one  day  that  will 
not  delay  and  that  will  surely  come,  when  you  shall  go 
into  the  presence  of  your  Father  and  my  Father  and 
there  shall  come  from  the  multitudes  of  Heaven  greeting 
voices  saying  to  you,  "  But  for  you  I  had  not  known 
Christ, "  glory  and  immortality  shining  from  their  faces 
and  reckoning  you  their  high  priest  under  the  great  High 

Priest.     Oh,  one  hour  in  heaven  will  be  worth  a  whole 
16* 


380      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

century  upon  earth,  and  the  commendation  of  God  will 
be  to  you  music  that  will  never  end,  that  will  roll  on  for- 
ever and  ever.  You  have  entered  or  will  soon  enter  the 
most  glorious  career,  if  you  are  fit  for  it,  that  can  be  open 
to  men.  Do  not  be  tempted  by  any  collateral*  business  ; 
do  not  be  tempted  by  any  praise ;  do  not  be  tempted  by 
any  pride;  do  not  be  tempted  by  any  discouragement: 
hold  on  and  work  to  the  end,  and  then  shall  come  the 
great  and  glorious  outpouring,  and  one  hour  in  heaven 
will  be  worth  ten  thousand  years  of  suffering  upon  earth. 
"  I  labored  under  great  disadvantages  in  coming  into  the 
Christian  ministry.  My  father  was  a  very  eminent  the- 
ologian and  preacher,  and  that  is  enough  to  beat  the  head 
in  of  any  son  of  his  that  comes  after  him  ;  because  we  are 
all  measured  by  the  reputation  of  the  father.  I  went  off 
out  of  the  city.  I  went  out  into  the  country.  I  really 
expected  to  live  and  die  in  Indiana,  and  it  is  in  my  heart 
to  do  it  yet — I  love  the  State.  I  went  into  the  woods, 
and  on  the  prairies  and  everywhere.  I  had  very  little  to 
say.  I  had  gone  through  the  whole  circle  of  debate  and 
theology  and  so  on.  I  had  had  a  revelation  of  the  nature 
of  Christ,  and  at  first  it  was  no  more  than  a  start  to  me. 
It  grew,  however,  more  and  more,  but  it  was  not  until  I 
had  been  preaching  about  four  or  five  years  that  I  had  a 
horizon  that  extended  around  the  whole  circle.  I 
preached  in  disquietude  and  in  almost  discouragement 
during  that  time,  but  at  last  I  came  to  that  feeling — "  I 


YALE   LECTURES   ON   PREACHING.  381 

do  believe  that  I  shall  now  be  a  preacher."  I  began  to 
see  how  I  could  do  the  thing  by  preaching  that  I  set  out 
to  do,  and  it  was  a  blessed  finding  out,  too.  I  think  it 
was  Correggio  who,  when  he  made  his  first  and  only  visit 
to  Rome,  having  been  a  painter  in  his  own  province  and 
comparatively  unknown,  went  to  see  the  works  of  Michael 
Angelo,  Titian,  and  Raphael.  All  that  "he  said  as  he 
looked  round  on  them  was,  "  I,  too,  am  a  painter."  He 
did  not  say  he  was  equal  to  them,  but  he  saw  in  looking 
at  their  works  that  he  had  got  hold  of  the  element,  and 
that  he  was  a  painter. 

"  I  remember  the  day  when  I  said  I  was  a  preacher.  I 
had  with  tears  and  sorrow  labored  to  do  something  that 
would  startle. men.  I  sat  down  and  took  the  Book  of 
Acts  and  analyzed  it  to  see  what  it  was  that  enabled  the 
apostles  to  produce  such  effects.  I  got  an  idea — it  was  a 
very  imperfect  one,  it  has  been  corrected  since — but  I  got 
an  idea  about  it,  and  said  :  "  Now,  I  will  construct  on 
these  lines  not  a  repetition  of  this  sermon,  but  I  will  make 
a  sermon  that  shall  be  adapted  to  the  state,  the  want  and 
feeling  of  such  communities  as  there  are  here."  I  knocked 
over  thirteen  men  with  that  sermon.  I  never  had  had  a 
fish  bite  before,  and  the  moment  that  I  came  home  I 
said :  "  Oh,  I  have  got  it !  I  have  got  it !  I  know  now  how 
it  is  going  to  be  done."  Well,  I  tried  it  again  the  next 
time,  and  I  failed  totally,  and  I  had  more  tumbles  down 
than  I  had  standings  up,  but  through  poor  sermons  and 


382      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

good  sermons  I  pressed  forward  until  I  got  to  the  degree 
of  fluency  that  I  have  attained.  And  I  want  you  to  un- 
derstand one  thing — I  do  not  consider  myself  a  good 
preacher.  As  God  is  my  judge,  my  sermons  are  continu- 
ally condemning  me,  not  in  the  mere  matter  of  scope  and 
thought,  but  in  the  soul  qualities.  I  ought  to  live  better 
and  be  better  to  enable  me  to  make  sermons  that  shall  be 
worthy  of  my  Master,  Jesus  Christ.  Do  not  be  discour- 
aged because  you  make  poor  work  of  preaching  at  first. 
Go  on  and  try  again." 

Mr.  Beecher  always  preferred  preaching  contrition  to 
attrition,  and  presents  the  following  in  support  of  his 
view  : 

"  If  a  man  believes  in  the  conscious  torment  of  men, 
eternal,  conscious  torment  in  hell,  if  he  ever  smiles,  if  he 
ever  gets  married,  if  he  ever  goes  into  convivial  company 
with  jest  and  joke,  he  is  a  monster  !  So  far  as  my  own 
personal  belief  is  concerned,  I  work  by  hope  and  love,  and 
inspire,  as  far  as  I  can,  these  as  the  working  forces  in  my 
people,  and  not  fear — except  in  those  words  of  fear  that 
springs  from  love — filial  fear,  and  so  on  ;  but,  as  regards 
the  future,  I  believe  that  Christ  taught  simply  this  :  That 
moral  character  went  on  from  this  life  into  the  other, 
bearing  the  same  general  tendencies  with  which  men  live 
here.  In  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  hell  as  taught  by  the 
barbaric  theologies  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  as  taught  by 
the  very  many  barbaric  denominations,  yet  I  say  that  it  is 


YALE   LECTURES   ON   PREACHING.  383 

not  according  to  the  mind  nor  the  will  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. But  I  do  believe  our  Lord  taught  us  that  living 
selfishly  and  corruptly  here  would  bear  such  fruits  in  the 
life  to  come  as  to  make  it  the  interest  of  every  man  to  live 
righteously  and  rightly.  The  doctrine  preached  by  sin- 
cere, gentle-minded  men  wins  my  respect  for  them  ;  it  is 
for  the  rancorous,  red-mouthed  men  that  are  preaching 
hell  fire  and  damnation,  and  going  home  to  drink  their 
wine  and  eat  their  bread  and  meat — it  is  for  them  that  I 
have  no  allowance — because  this  doctrine  is  everything — 
it  is  everything  if  it  be  true,  and  the  world  ought  to  be 
in  tears,  and  pleasures  ought  to  be  unknown,  under  such 
circumstances." 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE    LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 

Mr.  Beecher's  Reasons  for  writing  It. — The  First  Volume  published  in 
1872. — Its  High  Literary  Character. — Plans  for  the  Work. — Author- 
ities Consulted. — Spirit  in  which  the  Author  Wrote. — Meeting  Objec- 
tions.— The  Four  Gospels. — Their  Critics. — Accepting  Their  Truth. — 
Ministry  of  Angels. — The  Time  Ripe  for  Christ's  Appearance. — The 
Annunciation. — Characters  of  Mary  and  Joseph. — Deprecation  of 
Protestant  Reaction  from  Mary. — Herod's  Hatred. — The  Flight  into 
Egypt. — Childhood  of  Jesus. — John  and  the  Voice  in  the  Wilderness. 
— Discussion  of  Forms  of  Baptism. — Personal  Description  of  Christ. 
— Miracles  of  the  Four  Gospels. — Marriage  at  Cana. — Judean  Minis- 
try.— Lesson  at  Jacob's  Well. — Early  Labors  in  Galilee. — Discussion 
of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. — End  of  the  Volume. — Publication 
Suspended. — New  Contract  of  1886. 

PUBLIC  attention  has  been  drawn  toward  Mr.  Beecher's 
"  Life  of  Jesus  the  Christ "  more  than  to  any  other  of  his 
published  volumes.  During  many  years  he  had  loved, 
believed  in,  and  taught  his  people  concerning  Jesus 
Christ,  in  whom  all  the  vitality  of  his  faith  appeared  to 
centre.  To  him  Christ  was  everything,  and  he  cared  to 
know  no  more.  His  brother  clergymen  and  his  own 
people  often  asked  him  to  explain  his  views  of  Christ. 
He  resolved  to  put  himself  on  record  and  to  write  a  book 


THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  38$ 

that  would  inspire  a  deeper  interest  in  the  life  and  sym- 
pathies of  his  Master.  Writing  himself  about  it,  Mr. 
Beecher  said  : 

"  I  have  undertaken  to  write  a  life  of  Jesus  the  Christ 
in  the  hope  of  inspiring  a  deeper  interest  in  the  noble 
Personage  of  whom  those  matchless  histories,  the  Gos- 
pels of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  are  the  chief 
authentic  memorials.  I  have  endeavored  to  present 
scenes  that  occurred  two  thousand  years  ago  as  they 
would  appear  to  modern  eyes  if  the  events  had  taken 
place  in  our  day.  .  .  .  Writing  in  full  sympathy 
with  the  Gospels,  as  authentic  historical  documents,  and 
with  the  nature  and  teachings  of  the  great  Personage 
whom  they  describe,  ...  I  have  not  invented  a 
life  of  Jesus  to  suit  the  critical  philosophy  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  The  Jesus  of  the  four  Evangelists  for 
wellnigh  two  thousand  years  has  exerted  a  powerful  in- 
fluence upon  the  heart,  the  understanding,  and  the  im- 
agination of  mankind.  It  is  that  Jesus,  and  not  a  modern 
substitute,  whom  I  have  sought  to  depict,  in  his  life, 
his  social  relations,  his  disposition,  his  deeds  and  doc- 
trines." .  .  . 

In  the  latter  part  of  1872  Ford  &  Co.  issued  the  first 
volume — first  paying  Mr.  Beecher  $10,000  cash  for  the 
completed  work,  yet  to  be  written — and  it  was  at  once 
hailed  with  enthusiasm  by  eminent  men  the  world  around. 
Dr.  Storrs,  of  the  Church  of  the  Pilgrims,  Brooklyn, 


386      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF    HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

pronounced  it  to  be  the  "  book  which  the  masses  of  the 
Christian  world  have  been  waiting  for."  The  religious 
press,  without  exception,  accorded  it  a  respectful  wel- 
come, and  scholars  and  the  clergy  vied  with  each  other 
in  its  praise.  A  well-known  English  critic  said  that 
Beecher's  "  Life  of  Christ  "  would  be  welcome  to  Chris- 
tians, inquirers,  sceptics,  infidels,  teachers,  Bible  classes, 
home  circles,  and  intelligent  readers  of  every  name. 
That  Mr.  Beecher  had  put  his  best  work  in  the  first 
volume  of  the  work,  was  evident  to  any  critical  reader, 
and  the  publishers  gave  it  a  frame  worthy  of  the  picture. 
Agents  sold  the  book  faster  than  it  could  be  furnished, 
and  that  Mr.  Beecher  would  make  a  fortune  as  well  as 
fame  was  a  moral  certainty. 

The  author  informs  us  in  his  preface  that  he  has  fol- 
lowed, subject  to  slight  variation,  the  "  Gospel  History 
Consolidated,"  published  by  Bagster,  London,  England ; 
Ellicott's  li  Historical  Lectures  on  the  Life  of  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  "  and  Andrews'  "  Life  of  Our  Lord  upon 
Earth." 

Disclaiming  a  polemic  spirit,  and  being  anxious  only  to 
produce  conviction  without  controversy,  and  writing  in 
full  sympathy  with  the  Gospels  as  authentic  historical 
documents,  he  has  not  attempted  to  show  the  world  what 
the  Evangelists  ought  to  have  heard  and  seen,  but  did 
not,  nor  what  things  they  did  not  see  or  hear,  but  in  their 
simplicity  believed  that  they  did.  The  object  of  the 


THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  387 

work  is  to  present  scenes  in  the  life  of  Jesus  from  the 
chief  authentic  memorials  of  the  four  Evangelists, 
adapted  to  modern  inspection,  in  the  hope  of  awakening 
a  deeper  interest  in  the  noble  Personage  whom  all  men, 
while  differing  on  every  topic  connected  with  the  Christ, 
agree  in  estimating  as  a  good  man. 

While  the  aim  of  the  work  prevents  any  formal  dis- 
cussion of  the  history  of  the  text,  the  authenticity  of  the 
several  narratives,  and  the  many  philosophical  questions 
that  naturally  arise,  the  author  has  attentively  considered 
whatever  has  been  said,  on  every  side,  in  the  works  of 
critical  objectors,  and  has  endeavored  as  far  as  possible 
so  to  state  the  facts  as  to  take  away  the  grounds  from 
which  the  objections  were  aimed.  While  the  primary 
records  remain  the  same,  the  habits  and  requirements  of 
plain  people  render  it  essential  and  necessary  for  the 
life  of  Christ  to  be  rewritten  for  each  and  every  age; 
for  the  Gospels,  while  peculiarly  expressed  in  a  mode 
fitted  for  universal  circulation,  are  still,  owing  to  the  fact 
of  their  having  been  written  by  Jews,  and  with  primary 
reference  to  certain  wants  of  the  age  in  which  the  writers 
lived,  full  of  allusions,  customs,  and  beliefs  which  have 
passed  away  or  become  modified.  While  Truth  remains 
always  the  same,  every  age  has  its  own  style  of  thought 
and  expression,  its  own  needs  and  necessities,  and  it  is 
for  the  purpose  of  meeting  these  changes  of  ideas  in  dif- 
ferent ages  that  men  are  ordained  to  study  the  Gospel, 


388      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

and  preach  and  interpret  its  meaning,  and  thus  readapt 
the  truth,  from  age  to  age,  to  men's  ever-renewing  wants. 
All  critics  of  the  Gospels  are  reduced  to  two  classes: 

1.  Those  who  believe  that  the  writings  of  the  Evangel- 
ists are  authentic  historical  documents,  that  they  were 
divinely  inspired,   and   that  the  supernatural   elements 
contained  in  them  are  real,  and  to  be  credited  as  much 
as  any  other  parts  of  the  history. 

2.  Those  who  deny  the  inspiration  of  the  Gospels,  re- 
garding  them   as  unassisted   human  productions,   filled 
with  mistakes  and  inaccuracies ;  especially,  as  filled  with 
superstitions   and    pretended    miracles.     "  These    latter 
critics,"   says   the  author,    "  set  aside    all  traces   of  the 
supernatural.     They  feel  at  liberty  to  reject  all  miracles, 
either  summarily,  with  philosophic  contempt,  or  by  ex- 
planations as  wonderful  as  the  miracles  are  marvellous. 
In  effect,  they  act  as  if  there  could  be  no  evidence  except 
that  which  addresses  itself  to  the  material  senses.     Such 
reasoning  chains  philosophy  to   matter,  to  which  state- 
ment many  already  do  not  object,  but  boldly  claim  that, 
in  our  present  condition,  no  truth  can  be  known  to  men 
except   that    which    conforms    itself    to    physical    laws. 
There  is  a  step   further,  and  one  which  must  soon  be 
taken,  if  these  reasons  are  logically  consistent ;  namely, 
to  hold  that  there  is  no  evidence  of  a  God,  unless  Nat- 
ure be  that  God.     And  this  is  Pantheism,  which,  being 
interpreted,  is  Atheism. 


THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  389 

"  We  scarcely  need  to  say  that  we  shall  take  our  stand 
with  those  who  accept  the  New  Testament  as  a  collec- 
tion of  veritable  historical  documents,  with  the  record  of 
miracles,  and  with  the  train  of  spiritual  phenomena,  as  of 
absolute  and  literal  truth.  The  miraculous  element  con- 
stitutes the  very  nerve-system  of  the  Gospel.  To  with- 
draw it  from  credence  is  to  leave  the  Gospel  histories  a 
mere  shapeless  mass  of  pulp. 

"  The  ministry  of  the  angels,  the  mystery  of  the  Divine 
incarnation,  and  the  miracles  of  our  Lord  taken  away, 
nothing  remains  to  save  Jesus,  who  is  acknowledged  by 
all  men  to  have  been  a  good  man,  from  the  character  of 
a  gigantic  impostor.  And  even  Infidelity  would  feel 
bereaved  in  the  destruction  of  Christ's  moral  character." 

Proceeding  on  these  bases,  the  author  goes  on  to  say 
that  the  moral  fervor  and  intense  spiritual  yearnings 
among  the  best  men  in  Judea  had  wrought  men  up  to 
such  a  pitch  of  spiritual  enthusiasm  as  to  prepare  them 
in  some  sort  for  the  need  of  a  new  religious  education, 
which,  while  they  believed  in  its  advent,  was  not  appar- 
ent to  them  as  regarded  its  nature  and  the  time  and  place 
of  its  coming. 

"  The  day  had  come  when  a  new  manifestation  of  God 
was  to  be  made.  A  God  of  holiness,  a  God  of  power, 
and  a  God  of  mercy  had  been  clearly  revealed.  The 
Divine  Spirit  was  now  to  be  clothed  with  flesh,  subjected 
to  the  ordinary  laws  of  matter,  placed  in  those  conditions 


390      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

in  which  men  live,  become  the  subject  of  care,  weariness, 
sorrow,  and  of  death  itself." 

But  while  there  was  movement  and  holy  ecstasy 
among  the  heavenly  spirits  in  the  anticipation  of  this 
glorious  day,  the  earth  and  its  dull  inhabitants,  with  the 
exception  of  the  few  gifted  to  discern,  could  not  conceive 
the  wonderful  dawn  that  was  about  to  be  heralded.  In 
turn  to  Zacharias,  to  the  mother  of  Jesus,  to  the  shep- 
herds watching  their  flocks,  did  the  angels  announce  the 
glad  tidings,  and  the  new  era  opened  at  Jerusalem. 

"  The  scene  of  the  Annunciation  will  always  be  admir- 
able in  literature,  even  to  those  who  are  not  disposed  to 
accord  it  any  historic  value.  To  announce  to  an  espoused 
virgin  that  she  was  to  be  the  mother  of  a  child,  out  of 
wedlock,  by  the  unconscious  working  in  her  of  the 
Divine  power,  would,  beforehand,  seem  inconsistent  with 
delicacy.  But  no  person  of  poetic  sensibility  can  read 
the  scene  as  it  is  narrated  by  Luke  without  admiring  its 
sublime  purity  and  serenity.  It  is  not  a  transaction  of 
the  lower  world  of  passion.  Things  most  difficult  to  a 
lower  sphere  are  both  easy  and  beautiful  in  that  atmos- 
phere which,  as  it  were,  the  angel  brought  down  with 
him." 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  beauty  and  truthfulness  to 
nature  of  such  a  scene,  the  reader  is  invited  to  carry  him- 
self back  in  sympathy  to  the  period  of  that  Jewish 
maiden's  life.  "  The  education  of  a  Hebrew  woman  was 


THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  391 

far  freer  than  that  of  women  of  other  Oriental  nations. 
She  had  more  personal  liberty,  a  wider  scope  of  intelli- 
gence, than  obtained  among  the  Greeks,  or  even  among 
the  Romans.  But  above  all,  she  received  a  moral  edu- 
cation which  placed  her  high  above  her  sisters  in  other 
lands."  To  Mary  all  phenomena  of  nature  were  direct 
manifestations  of  the  Lord's  will,  for  at  that  period  the 
path  glowed  with  divine  manifestations,  and  miracles 
blossomed  out  of  every  natural  law.  While  to  us  God 
acts  through  instruments,  to  the  Hebrew  he  acted  im- 
mediately by  his  will.  No  surprise,  therefore,  was  ex- 
perienced by  Mary  at  the  coming  of  the  angels  ;  her  only 
surprise  being  that  she  should  be  chosen  for  a  renewal  of 
those  Divine  interpositions  in  behalf  of  her  people  of 
which  their  history  was  so  full. 

The  author,  while  testifying  to  the  beauty,  the  rever- 
ence, the  affection,  and  esteem  in  which  the  name  of 
Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  has  been  held  for  over  a 
thousand  years,  experiences  difficulty  in  speaking  of  her, 
"both  because  so  little  is  known  of  her,  and  because  so 
much  has  been  imagined,"  and  while  "  the  doctors  of 
theology  have  long  hesitated  to  deify  the  Virgin,  art  has 
unconsciously  raised  her  to  the  highest  place.  .  .  . 
A  sweet  and  trusting  faith  in  God,  childlike  simplicity, 
and  profound  love  seem  to  have  formed  the  nature  of 
Mary.  She  may  be  accepted  as  the  type  of  Christian 
motherhood.  In  this  view,  and  excluding  the  dogma  of 


392      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF    HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

her  immaculate  conception,  and  still  more  emphatically 
that  of  any  other  participation  in  divinity  than  that 
which  is  common  to  all,  we  may  receive  with  pleasure 
the  stores  of  exquisite  pictures  with  which  Christian  art 
has  filled  its  realm.  .  .  .  The  Protestant  reaction 
from  Mary  has  gone  far  enough,  and  on  our  own  grounds 
we  may  well  have  our  share  also  in  the  memory  of  this 
sweet  and  noble  woman."  Speaking  of  Joseph,  the  au- 
thor says  he  is  called  a  just  man,  and  he  is  known  to 
have  been  humane.  "  For  when  he  discovered  the  con- 
dition of  his  betrothed  wife,  instead  of  pressing  to  its 
full  rigor  the  Jewish  law  against  her,  he  meant  quietly 
and  without  harm  to  set  her  aside.  When  in  a  vision  he 
learned  the  truth,  he  took  Mary  as  his  wife."  * 

With  the  advent  into  Jerusalem  of  the  pilgrims  of  the 
East,  "  Herod  was  troubled,  and  all  Jerusalem  with  him." 
In  connection  with  the  guiding  star,  which  was  no  plane- 
tary conjunction,  but  a  miracle  of  divine  ordination,  at- 
tention is  directed  to  "  the  superiority  of  spiritual  power 
over  sensuous,  which  is  the  illuminating  truth  of  the 
New  Testament."  "  Miracles,"  continues  the  author, 
"  are  ,to  be  accepted  boldly  or  not  at  all.  They  are 
jewels,  and  sparkle  with  divine  light,  or  they  are  noth- 
ing." Herod's  hatred  had  to  be  avoided,  and,  stirred  by 
a  divine  impulse,  Joseph  removed  his  family  into  Egypt, 
where  uncertain  tradition  has  placed  their  sojourn  at 
Mataria,  near  Leontopolis. 


THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  393 

The  Ministration  of  Angels  is  dwelt  on  by  the  author 
as  a  faith  that  is  "peculiarly  grateful  to  the  human 
heart."  He  says  :  "  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  follow  the 
line  of  development  in  the  animal  kingdom,  and  to  wit- 
ness the  gradations  on  the  ascending  scale,  unfolding 
steadily,  rank  above  rank,  until  man  is  reached,  without 
having  the  presumption  awakened  that  there  are  intelli- 
gences above  man — creatures  which  rise  as  much  above 
him  as  he  above  the  inferior  animals.  When  the  Word 
of  God  announces  the  ministration  of  angels,  records  their 
early  visits  to  this  planet,  represents  them  as  bending 
over  the  race  in  benevolent  sympathy,  bearing  warnings, 
consolations,  and  messages  of  wisdom,  the  heart  receives 
the  doctrine  even  against  the  caution  of  a  sceptical  rea- 
son. .  .  .  We  could  not  imagine  the  advent  stripped 
of  its  angelic  lore.  The  dawn  without  a  twilight,  the 
sun  without  clouds  of  silver  and  gold,  the  morning  on  the 
fields  without  dew-diamonds — but  not  the  Saviour  with- 
out his  angels." 

With  the  doctrinal  theory  of  the  divine  and  human 
nature  of  Jesus,  the  author  is  at  variance,  arguing  that 
the  beauty  and  preciousness  of  Christ's  earthly  life  con- 
sisted in  its  being  a  true  divine  life,  "  a  presentation  to  us, 
in  forms  that  we  can  comprehend,  of  the  very  thoughts, 
feelings,  and  actions  of  God  when  placed  in  our  condition 
in  this  mortal  life.  To  insert  two  natures  is  to  dissolve 
the  charm." 


394      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

In  treating  of  the  childhood  of  Jesus,  the  author  avoids 
discussion  of  the  suppositions  relating  to  his  brothers  and 
sisters  beyond  stating  that  they  may  have  been  the  chil- 
dren of  Joseph  by  a  former  marriage  ;  or  they  may  have 
been  adopted  ;  or  they  may  have  been  his  cousins  ;  or 
they  may  have  been  the  children  of  Joseph  and  Mary. 

It  is  sufficient  that  the  child  Jesus  grew  up  and  waxed 
strong  in  the  company  of  other  children,  and  then  at  the 
age  of  twelve  his  parents  find  him  "  in  the  temple,  sit- 
ting in  the  midst  of  the  doctors,  both  hearing  them  and 
asking  them  questions."  From  the  reply  to  his  mother, 
"  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  busi- 
ness ?  "  it  is  plain  that  "  he  was  conscious  of  the  nature 
that  was  in  him,  and  that  strong  impulses  urged  him  to 
disclose  his  power.  It  is  therefore  very  significant,  and 
not  the  least  of  the  signs  of  divinity,  that  he  ruled  his 
spirit,  and  dwelt  at  home  in  unmurmuring  expectation." 

The  beauty  of  Nazareth  and  its  environs  affords  ample 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the  author's  ingenious  pen 
in  picturesque  description. 

In  the  treatment  of  John  and  his  Voice  in  the  Wilder- 
ness, no  significance  is  attached  to  his  baptism  with  water, 
beyond  the  fact  that  it  was  a  symbolic  act,  signifying 
that  one  had  risen  to  a  higher  moral  condition.  John's 
own  explanation  was  clear  and  explicit  :  "  I  baptize  you 
with  water  unto  repentance."  John's  mission  was  criti- 
cised by  the  Sanhedrim  priestly  questioners,  and  the  ef- 


THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  395 

feet  of  his  reply  was  without  doubt  an  appeal  from  Ritual 
to  conscience.  "  He  came  home  to  men  with  direct  and 
personal  appeal,  and  refused  the  old  forms  and  sacred 
channels  of  instruction ;  and  when  asked  by  the  proper 
authorities  for  his  credentials,  he  gave  his  name,  A  Voice 
in  the  Wilderness,  as  if  he  owed  no  obligation  to  Jerusa- 
lem, but  only  to  nature  and  to  God." 

The  long  silence  is  ended,  and  Jesus,  walking  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  people,  "  that  in  all  things  he  might  be 
like  unto  his  brethren,"  is  baptized  by  John  in  the  Jor- 
dan ;  and  instantly  a  Voice  spake  from  out  of  heaven, 
"  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased  " 
(Matt.'iii.  17).  At  every  step  the  disclosure  of  the  life 
of  Jesus  was  a  surprise,  and  "the  mystery  of  that  Divine 
Spirit  which  possessed  the  Saviour,  the  mystery  of  forty 
day's  conflict  in  such  a  soul,  the  mystery  of  the  nature 
and  power  of  Satan,  the  mystery  of  the  three  final  forms 
into  which  the  Temptation  resolved  itself — these  are  be- 
yond our  reach.  They  compass  and  shroud  the  scene 
with  a  kind  of  supernatural  gloom.  The  best  solution 
we  give  to  the  difficulties  will  cast  but  a  twilight  upon 
the  scene." 

In  following  out  the  life  of  Jesus,  we  are  not  to  take 
with  us  the  conception  of  a  formidable  being,  terrible  in 
holiness,  but  we  must  clothe  him  in  imagination  with 
traits  that  made  little  children  run  to  him. 

A  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  personal  appearance  of  the 
17 


396      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Christ,  and  another  to  the  outlook  at  the  time  of  the 
commencement  of  his  mission,  with  references  to  the 
Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees,  and  their  respective 
schools. 

"  If  Jesus  came  to  found  a  church,  never  were  actions 
so  at  variance  with  purposes.  There  are  no  recorded  in- 
structions to  this  end.  He  remained  in  the  full  com- 
munion of  the  Jewish  Church  to  the  last.  Nor  did  his 
disciples  or  apostles  dream  of  leaving  the  church  of  their 
fathers.  .  .  .  The  captivity  is  drawing  to  a  close. 
The  Jerusalem  of  the  Spirit  is  descending,  adorned  as  a 
bride  for  the  bridegroom.  The  new  life  in  God  is 
gathering  disciples.  They  are  finding  one  another.  Not 
disdaining  outward  helps,  they  are  learning  that  the 
Spirit  alone  is  essential.  All  creeds,  churches,  institu- 
tions, customs,  ordinances,  are  but  steps  upon  which  the 
Christian  plants  his  foot,  that  they  may  help  him  to 
ascend  to  the  perfect  liberty  in  Christ  Jesus." 

The  first  step  of  Jesus,  in  his  ministry,  was  a  return 
home  to  his  mother,  and  from  this  we  are  led  to  the 
marriage  at  Cana,  with  a  minute  description  of  the  scene 
of  the  feast,  and  the  miracle  of  the  changing  of  the  water 
into  wine  ;  in  connection  with  which,  the  author  argues 
"  that  the  wine  created  by  our  Lord  answered  to  the  fer- 
mented wine  of  the  country  would  never  have  been 
doubted,  if  the  exigencies  of  a  modern  and  most  benefi- 
cent reformation  had  not  created  a  strong  but  unwise  dis- 


THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  397 

position  to  do  away  with  the  undoubted  example  of  our 
Lord."  Although  the  motive  of  the  doubt  was  good,  it  has 
failed  to  satisfy  the  best  scholars.  The  reply  of  Jesus  to 
his  mother,  interpreted  according  to  the  language  of  to- 
day, might  imply  a  rebuke  as  well  as  a  refusal ;  but  inter- 
preted through  the  impression  produced  on  his  mother,  it 
was  neither  refusal  nor  rebuke,  "  for  she  acted  as  one  who 
had  asked  and  obtained  a  favor." 

The  few  disciples  who  had  accompanied  Jesus  were 
drawn  to  him  by  the  miracle  at  Cana  with  renewed  ad- 
miration, and  soon  afterward  he  went  down  to  Caper- 
naum with  his  disciples,  and  at  this  time  Simon  Peter 
and  his  brother  Andrew  were  called  ;  and  then  we  have 
recorded  other  miracles,  such  as  the  healing  of  the  demo- 
niac, the  paralytic,  etc. 

In  the  First  Judean  Ministry,  Baptism,  and  the  dis- 
putes thereon  among  the  disciples,  are  again  discussed,  and 
the  author  remarks  that  on  this  question  "  there  came 
near  being  two  sects.  And  Jesus  seeing  the  danger,  not 
only  left  the  neighborhood,  but  ceased  baptizing." 

We  have  then  the  Lesson  at  Jacob's  Well  and  the  ap- 
peal of  Jesus  to  the  Samaritan  woman,  expressive  of  his 
sympathy  for  mankind,  and  the  tenderest  compassion  for 
those  who  have  sinned  and  stumbled. 

In  the  Early  Labors  in  Galilee,  we  are  attracted  chiefly 
by  Jesus  expounding  the  lessons  of  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets  in  the  synagogue,  and  the  tumult  thereafter, 


398      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

when  "  Passing  through  the  midst  of  them,  he  went  his 
way  ;  "  and  the  healing  of  the  sick  man  on  the  Sabbath- 
day,  and  the  collision  with  the  Pharisees  on  account  of 
his  work  on  that  day,  whereon  the  principle  is  laid  down, 
"  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  'man  for  the 
Sabbath" 

A  year  and  a  half  after  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  we  have 
a  Time  of  Joy,  when  he  returned  into  Galilee,  and  "  he 
taught  in  their  synagogues,  being  glorified  of  all" 

From  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  The  Beatitudes, 
we  arrive  at  The  Beginning  of  the  Conflict,  His  steps 
being  followed  by  an  enthusiastic  multitude,  the  Temple 
party  lurking  around,  determined  to  resist  the  reforma- 
tion and  destroy  the  reformer,  but  restrained  for  a  time 
by  His  wonderful  miracles  and  the  power  of  His  teaching. 
Around  the  Sea  of  Galilee  the  discourses  of  Jesus  grow 
deeper  and  richer,  and  although  he  had  preached  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  from  the  first,  that  theme  now  seems 
to  become  his  special  subject  of  discourse,  indicative  of 
which  we  have  eight  parables.  Political  influences  were 
now  at  work  to  destroy  him,  but  "  Every  political  party 
has  one  or  two  sensitive  tests.  If  a  man  is  sound  or 
harmless  in  respect  to  them,  he  is  regarded  as  safe." 

With  the  doctrine  of  immortality,  as  expounded  by 
Jesus,  and  his  numerous  parables  on  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven,  the  first  volume  is  brought  to  a  close. 

"The  Voice  ceased.     The  crowd   disappeared.     The 


THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST.  399 

light  that  had  sparkled  along  the  waters  and  fired  the 
distant  hills  went  out.  .  .  .  With  the  darkness  came 
forget  fulness,  leaving  but  a  faint  memory  of  the  Voice  or 
its  teachings,  as  of  a  wind  whispering  among  the  fickle 
reeds."  . 

The  Beecher-Tilton  scandal  which  culminated  in  the 
great  trial  stopped  the  sale  of  the  first  volume — in  the 
expressive  language  of  Samuel  Wilkinson,  "  The  Life  of 
Christ  was  knocked  higher  than  a  kite."  Litigation 
followed,  and  the  second  volume  remained  unwritten  un- 
til 1886,  when  Mr.  Beechermade  a  contract  with  Charles 
L.  Webster  &  Co.  to  complete  the  work,  and  also  to 
write  his  autobiography.  Nothing  had  been  done  upon 
the  latter,  but  the  Life  of  Christ  was  so  nearly  complete 
at  the  time  of  Mr.  Beecher's  death  that  it  can  easily  be 
finished  by  another's  hand. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE     GREAT    SCANDAL. 

Tilton  a  Reporter  in  1851. — Attached  to  The  Independent. — His  Domestic 
Troubles. — Interviews  and  Correspondence. — The  Tripartite  Agree- 
ment.—  "Our  Mutual  Friend.1' — The  Church  Investigates. — Beecher 
Exonerated. — Commencement  of  the  Libel  Suit. — Complaint  and  An- 
swer.— How  the  Jury  stood  at  the  End. — Eminent  Counsel  on  Both 
Sides. — Official  Report  of  the  Trial.— Tilton  on  the  Stand. — His 
Remarkable  Story  for  the  Prosecution. — Cross-Examination. — His 
Version  of  the  Various  Interviews  with  Beecher. — Mrs.  Victoria  C. 
Woodhull's  Connection  with  the  Case. — Frank  Moulton  and  His 
Testimony. — Other  Witnesses  for  the  Plaintiff. — The  Prosecution 
rests  Its  Case. — Rulings  of  Judge  Neilson. 

IN  1851,  a  bright  young  stenographer,  only  sixteen  years 
of  age,  Theodore  Tilton  by  name,  came  into  Plymouth 
Church  to  take  down  Mr.  Beecher's  sermons  for  publica- 
tion, a  practice  which  was  then  a  novelty.  He  was  en- 
gaged by  Henry  C.  Bowen,  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
church,  upon  The  Independent,  of  which  journal  Mr.  Bowen 
was  a  proprietor,  and  in  1861  he  succeeded  Mr.  Beecher 
as  editor-in-chief  of  the  paper.  He  developed  consider- 
able power  as  a  writer  and  speaker,  especially  in  the  anti- 
slavery  contest,  and  gained  the  warm  friendship  of  Mr. 
Beecher,  who  regarded  him  as  "  one  of  my  boys."  Tow- 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  4<DI 

ards  1870  some  difference  arose  between  Mr.  Bowen,then 
sole  proprietor  of  The  Independent,  and  Mr.  Beecher. 
Meanwhile  Mr.  Tilton's  domestic  life  was  not  a  happy 
one.  In  December,  1870,  Mrs.  Tilton  left  her  husband's 
house  and  sought  her  mother's  protection.  Mr.  Beecher 
was  consulted,  and  finally  counselled  a  separation,  and  the 
rupture  between  Tilton  and  Mr.  Beecher  was  complete. 
Mr.  Tilton  obtained  possession  of  his  infant  child  in  its 
mother's  absence,  and  then  the  mother  returned  to  him. 
At  this  time  Mr.  Tilton  had  retired  from  the  editorship 
of  The  Independent,  to  which,  however,  he  still  continued 
to  contribute,  and  was  editor-in-chief  of  the  Brooklyn 
Union,  of  which  Mr.  Bowen  was  one  of  the  proprietors. 
To  Mr.  Bowen  came  stories  prejudicial  to  Tilton's  moral 
character,  and  he  meditated  dismissing  him. 

An  interview  was  held  on  December  26,  1870,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  conversation  passed  from  the  im- 
mediate topic  to  the  necessity  of  frequent  notices  of  Ply- 
mouth Church  and  its  pastor  in  the  Brooklyn  Union. 
Tilton  objected,  and  charged  Mr.  Beecher  with  "  dishon- 
orable conduct  toward  his  wife."  Bringing  pen  and  paper, 
Mr.  Bowen  invited  Tilton  to  write  a  letter  demanding 
that  Mr.  Beecher  resign  from  Plymouth  Church  and  leave 
The  Christian  Union.  Tilton  did  so.  Mr.  Bowen  took 
the  letter  to  Mr.  Beecher,  who  read  it  and  said  :  "  This  is 
sheer  insanity ;  this  man  is  crazy."  Soon  afterward  Til- 
ton  was  dismissed  from  both  the  positions  which  he  held. 


402      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

It  was  now  necessary  for  him  to  submit  evidence  against 
Mr.  Beecher  or  to  confess  himself  a  slanderer.  He  sought 
this  from  his  wife.  As  to  what  the  precise  confession  then 
obtained  from  her  was  the  testimony  conflicted.  The 
letter  was  two  years  afterward  destroyed.  The  progress 
of  events  was  not  rapid.  Mrs.  Tilton  retracted  in  Mr. 
Beecher's  presence  every  accusation  made  against  him ; 
Francis  D.  Moulton  appeared  as  the  "  mutual  friend  ;  " 
Mr.  Beecher  made  a  tumultuous  expression  of  grief  and 
shame,  of  which  Mr.  Moulton  took  down  a  statement  ; 
Mr.  Tilton  and  Mr.  Beecher  met,  and  a  reconciliation  was 
effected.  A  new  paper  called  The  Golden  Age  was 
started,  with  Tilton  at  its  head,  for  which  purpose  Mr. 
Beecher  and  friends  of  Mr.  Moulton  contributed  sums  of 
money. 

On  April  2,  1872,  the  "  tripartite  covenant  "  between 
Beecher,  Bowen,  and  Tilton  was  signed,  promising  silence 
as  to  the  past  and  good-will  for  the  future.  But  ugly 
rumors  began  to  be  heard.  Tilton  aided  their  distribution, 
Mr.  Beecher's  friends  became  uneasy,  and  in  1873  he 
broke  silence  with  a  card  of  denial.  Tilton  was  charged 
in  the  church  with  being  a  slanderer  of  his  pastor,  and  his 
name  was  stricken  from  the  rolls.  But  more  was  de- 
manded. An  ecclesiastical  council  was  called,  nominally 
in  regard  to  the  irregularity  of  this  proceeding,  really  to 
make  some  attempt  at  an  investigation.  Its  work 
amounted  to  nothing,  except  to  deepen  the  uneasy  feeling 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  403 

that  some  great  scandal  was  about  to  be  brought  to  light. 
Then  Tilton,  to  clear  himself,  published  the  Bacon  letter, 
the  first  of  the  statements  preceding  the  trial,  in  which  he 
quoted  from  Mr.  Beecher's  alleged  confession  of  January 
I,  1871.  Mr.  Beecher  at  once  took  action  and  demanded 
an  investigation,  which  six  well-known  members  of  Ply- 
mouth Church  were  appointed  to  conduct.  Another  ef- 
fort to  compromise  the  matter  was  made  in  vain,  and  at 
last,  in  August,  1874,  four  years  and  more  after  the  wrong 
was  charged  to  have  been  committed,  Tilton  brought  his 
suit,  placing  his  damages  at  $100,000.  The  charge  of 
adultery  was  first  publicly  preferred  in  July,  1874,  and  the 
complaint  served  in  August,  when  issue  was  immediately 
joined.  The  trial  was  begun  in  January,  1875.  Subjects 
were  dealt  with  extending  over  five  or  six  years.  About 
two  hundred  and  fifty  documents  were  introduced  and 
analyzed.  More  than  one  hundred  different  interviews 
were  examined  into,  and  in  respect  to  many  of  them  the 
sworn  testimony  of  witnesses  was  in  irreconcilable  dis- 
agreement. Printed  in  small  type,  the  testimony  that 
was  published  filled  three  thousand  foolscap  pages,  and  the 
report  of  the  proceedings  would  fill  four  or  five  large  legal 
volumes.  Over  one  hundred  and  fifty  distinct  rulings  on 
points  of  law  were  made  by  the  judge,  which  were  noted 
by  the  defendant's  counsel,  and  nearly  as  many  questions 
were  raised  and  decided  during  the  defendant's  presenta- 
tion of  his  case. 
17* 


404      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Judge  Neilson  sat  upon  the  bench.  The  most  eminent 
counsel  were  employed  on  either  side.  For  Tilton  ap- 
peared Mr.  Pryor,  a  man  of  wide  learning  and  active 
mind,  Mr.  Fullerton,  a  master  of  the  art  of  cross-ques- 
tioning, and  Mr.  Beach,  a  sharp,  pithy,  and  forcible 
speaker. 

Mr.  Beecher  was  represented  by  Mr.  Evarts,  who 
gained  new  laurels  as  an  advocate  before  a  jury  ;  Austin 
Abbott,  distinguished  for  his  legal  learning  and  the  pub- 
lications bearing  his  name,  whose  foresight  and  system 
were  apparent  in  the  presentation  of  the  defendant's  case ; 
Mr.  Porter,  quick  to  see  and  decide  upon  knotty  points ; 
and  Mr.  Tracy,  an  effective  orator.  The  positions  of  the 
persons  interested,  the  differing  characteristics  of  the 
multitudinous  witnesses,  the  crowds  of  prominent  men 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  who  packed  the  court-room 
daily,  and  the  wholesale  publicity  given  by  the  press,  all 
conspired  to  make  this  trial  a  striking  and  unprecedented 
event.  From  January  until  June  the  lawyers  struggled, 
and  a  curious  public  gloated  over  the  daily  details  of  the 
great  scandal.  Then  came  the  summing  up  on  each  side 
and  the  judge's  charge.  The  deliberations  of  the  jury 
continued  for  eight  days.  Fifty-two  ballots  were  taken, 
the  first  and  last  being  nine  for  Mr.  Beecher  and  three 
for  Tilton.  On  one  ballot  the  jury  stood  eleven  to  one, 
and  on  another  seven  to  five,  in  favor  of  Mr.  Beecher. 

After  the  close  of  this  trial  the  matter  was  taken  up 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  405 

by  the  Grand  Jury,  which  called  Mr.  Beecher  as  a  wit- 
ness and  found  an  indictment  against  Francis  D.  Moul- 
ton  for  libel.  The  District  Attorney,  however,  never 
brought  the  case  to  trial,  and  after  he  had  officially  indi- 
cated this  decision  by  entering  a  nolle  prosequi,  Moulton 
brought  a  suit  against  Mr.  Beecher  for  malicious  prose- 
cution. Mr.  Beecher's  counsel  defended  him  vigorously, 
and  Moulton  abandoned  his  suit.  Questions  then  arose 
respecting  the  regularity  of  the  proceedings  in  Plymouth 
Church  by  which  Mr.  Beecher  had  been  acquitted,  and 
a  council  of  Congregational  churches  and  ministers,  said 
to  be  the  largest  that  ever  assembled,  was  called  to  ad- 
vise with  Plymouth  Church  respecting  its  proceedings. 
This  council  did  not  undertake  a  direct  examination  of 
the  charges.  It  simply  examined  into  the  history  of  the 
action  of  Plymouth  Church,  and  in  this  inquiry  spent 
nearly  a  week.  The  result  was  that  Christian  fellowship 
was  extended  to  Mr.  Beecher,  the  confidence  of  the 
council  in  his  integrity  was  affirmed,  and  a  tribunal  of 
eminent  jurists  was  appointed  to  investigate  any  charges 
that  might  be  laid  before  them,  though  none  were  ever 
laid. 

To  many  who  hated  Mr.  Beecher  for  political  or*theo- 
logical  reasons,  "  the  great  scandal  "  was  an  opportunity 
to  despise  him  for  which  they  were  not  ungrateful.  But 
many  who  loved  him  and  honored  him  were  obliged  to 
feel  that  the  evidence  of  his  own  hand  convicted  him  of 


406      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

a  shameful  fault.  Guilty  or  innocent,  his  was  a  fearful 
trial,  and  nothing  in  his  life  became  him  like  his  bearing 
of  it.  It  was  terrible  to  meet  him  then  upon  the  street, 
he  seemed  so  bowed  and  broken ;  his  once  cheerful  face 
was  so  worn  and  weary  with  the  sorrow  of  his  heart.  It 
is  a  patent  fact  that  never  after  that  did  he  have  the 
weight,  the  influence,  the  authority  in  political  or  relig- 
ious matters  that  he  had  before.  It  is  equally  patent 
that  the  after-thought  of  many  whose  judgment  was  at 
first  adverse  to  him  grew  less  and  less  so  as  the  years 
went  on.  And  it  is  certain  that  few  who  are  not  willing 
to  think  evil  of  him  for  the  basest  reasons  would  now 
hesitate  to  say  that  whatever  may  have  been  his  fault,  it 
is  still  true  that  in  the  general  sweep  and  tenor  of  his  life 
he  was  a  man  devoted  to  all  excellent  and  useful  ideas. 
It  is  equally  certain  that  there  are  many  others,  and  a 
much  greater  number,  who  have  not  and  who  never  had 
a  doubt  of  his  complete  and  perfect  innocence.  And 
furthermore,  a  very  great  majority  of  those  who  per- 
sonally knew  him  believed  in  his  innocence,  while  com- 
paratively few  of  those  who  supported  the  accusation 
were  acquainted  with  Mr.  Beecher  or  had  ever  exchanged 
a  word  with  him. 

[The  following  account  of  the  trial  has  been  carefully 
and  impartially  abridged  from  the  official  report.] 

The  answer  to  Mr.  Tilton's  complaint  was  a  general 
and  unqualified  denial,  and  was  made  August  29,  1874. 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  4O/ 

On  the  1 7th  of  the  following  October  Judge  Neilson, 
Chief  Justice  of  the  City  Court  of  Brooklyn,  granted  an 
order  requiring  the  plaintiff  to  deliver  to  the  defendant's 
attorneys  a  statement  in  writing  of  the  particular  times 
and  places  at  which  he  expected  or  intended  to  prove 
that  any  acts  of  adultery  or  criminal  intercourse  had  taken 
place  between  the  defendant  and  the  wife  of  the  plain- 
tiff, and  of  the  particular  times  and  places  at  which  he 
expected  or  intended  to  prove  that  the  defendant  con- 
fessed any  such  act  of  adultery,  or  show  cause  why  such 
bill  of  particulars  should  not  be  delivered,  and  why  the 
plaintiff  should  not  be  precluded  from  giving  evidence 
on  the  trial  of  any  such  acts  or  confessions  not  specified 
in  such  bill  of  particulars.  In  the  affidavit  accompany- 
ing the  order  attention  was  called  to  an  alleged  confes- 
sion of  Mr.  Beecher  and  Mrs.  Tilton,  and  it  was  emphat- 
ically denied  that  any  such  confession  had  ever  been  made. 
The  motion  for  a  bill  of  particulars  was  argued  at  a 
special  term  of  the  City  Court  of  Brooklyn,  October  30, 
1874,  before  Chief  Justice  Neilson,  and  was  denied  with- 
out costs.  The  defendant's  attorneys  appealed  from  the 
order  of  Judge  Neilson  to  the  General  Term  of  the  City 
Court,  and  the  appeal  was  heard  by  Judges  Reynolds  and 
McCue.  The  order  denying  the  bill  of  particulars  was 
affirmed,  without  costs,  Judge  Reynolds  writing  the 
opinion.  A  dissenting  opinion  was  written  by  Judge 
McCue. 


408      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

From  the  decision  of  the  General  Term  an  appeal  was 
taken  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  the  decision  of  the 
General  Term  of  the  City  Court  was  reversed.  The 
counsel  for  the  defendant  then  renewed  their  application 
for  a  bill  of  particulars  before  Judge  McCue,  at  a  Special 
Term  of  the  City  Court,  December  10,  1874,  and  the  ap- 
plication was  granted.  From  this  decision  the  plaintiff 
appealed  to  the  General  Term,  and  the  appeal  having 
been  heard  before  Judges  Neilson  and  Reynolds,  an  order 
was  entered  on  December  29th,  reversing  Judge  McCue's 
order.  The  order  for  a  bill  of  particulars  having  been 
finally  refused,  the  suit  went  to  trial  upon  Mr.  Tilton's 
original  complaint,  made  on  August  21,  1874. 

The  cause  was  called  on  Monday,  January  4,  1875,  by 
Judge  McCue,  in  the  Brooklyn  City  Court,  Part  I.  Mr. 
Beecher  and  his  counsel  were  present,  but  as  the  case 
was  called  two  hours  before  the  time  understood  by  the 
plaintiff's  counsel,  Mr.  Tilton  was  not  represented,  except 
by  Mr.  Pearsall,  whose  attendance  was  accidental.  He 
answered  to  the  call,  but  insisted  on  an  adjournment  till  the 
next  day.  Judge  McCue,  by  right  of  assignment,  should 
have  held  the  term,  but  there  had  been  an  implied  un- 
derstanding that  the  case  should  be  sent  to  Judge  Neil- 
son.  In  the  preliminary  contests  in  which  Judge  McCue 
had  granted  a  bill  of  particulars,  and  Judge  Neilson  had 
denied  it,  the  opinion  of  both  Judges  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  evidence  to  be  admitted  on  this  particular  case  was 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  409 

foreshadowed.  Naturally,  Mr.  Beecher's  counsel  were 
anxious  that  the  case  should  be  tried  before  Judge  Mc- 
Cue,  while  the  plaintiff  preferred  Judge  Neilson.  It  was 
thought  on  this  first  day  that  Judge  McCue  would  pre- 
side, but  in  accordance  with  Mr.  Pearsall's  desire  the 
case  was  adjourned  till  1 1  A.M.  next  day,  and  the  matter 
left  undecided.  On  Tuesday,  January  5th,  after  hearing 
the  arguments  of  the  counsel  on  both  sides,  and  after 
consulting  with  his  associates,  Judge  McCue  decided  to 
send  the  case  to  the  other  part  of  the  Court,  presided 
over  by  Judge  Neilson.  By  Friday,  January  8th,  the 
impanelling  of  the  jury  was  completed. 

The  trial  may  be  said  to  have  really  commenced  on 
Monday,  January  nth,  with  the  address  of  ex-Judge 
Morris.  The  main  points  touched  on  in  this  address 
were  the  alleged  confessions  of  Mr.  Beecher  and  Mrs. 
Tilton  to  Mr.  Tilton,  Mrs.  Moulton,  and  others;  the 
correspondence  of  Mr.  Beecher ;  the  letters  of  Mrs.  Til- 
ton  and  Mrs.  Morse;  the  alleged  clandestine  correspond- 
ence between  Mr.  Beecher  and  Mrs.  Tilton  ;  and  the  cir- 
cumstantial evidence  in  the  efforts  which  Mr.  Beecher 
made  for  concealment. 

Every  seat  in  the  court  was  occupied,  admission  being 
allowed  by  ticket  only.  All  eyes  turned  to  the  door-way 
as  Mr.  Beecher,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Beecher,  entered 
the  court-room. 

The  opening  address  was  closed  on  the  morning  of 


410      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

January  I3th,  and  two  witnesses  were  called  to  the  stand 
— Augustus  Maverick  and  Francis  D.  Moulton.  The 
former  gave  unimportant  testimony  in  relation  to  Mr. 
Tilton's  marriage.  Mr.  Moulton's  testimony  related  to 
the  first  meeting  between  Mr.  Tilton  and  Mr.  Beecher  at 
his  house,  the  circumstances  under  which  the  apology 
was  written,  and  the  subsequent  interview  between  him- 
self and  Mr.  Beecher  on  the  subject  of  Mrs.  Tilton's  re- 
traction. He  identified  the  various  documents,  letters, 
etc.,  that  had  become  part  and  parcel  of  the  case,  includ- 
ing Mr.  Tilton's  demand  that  Mr.  Beecher  should  leave 
the  ministry,  Mrs.  Morse's  letter  to  Mr.  Beecher  and  his 
reply,  sundry  letters  from  Mr.  Beecher  to  Mr.  Moulton, 
Mrs.  Tilton,  and  what  were  termed  the  clandestine  letters  ; 
also  Mr.  Beecher's  letter  to  Mr.  Moulton,  in  which  Mr. 
Tilton's  character  was  analyzed.  At  one  point  in  his  tes- 
timony the  witness  stated  that  Mr.  Tilton  threatened  to 
shoot  Mr.  Beecher  if  the  resignation  of  the  pastorate 
should  be  published,  because  it  would  disgrace  the  Liv- 
ingston Street  household.  The  letter  of  Mrs.  Victoria  C. 
Woodhull  to  the  World,  May  22,  1871,  was  put  in  as  evi- 
dence, and  Mr.  Beecher's  cards  challenging  Mrs.  Wood- 
hull  or  anyone  else  who  had  letters  of  his  to  publish  them ; 
also  the  West  specifications  against  Mr.  Tilton,  and  the 
tripartite  agreement  between  Mr.  Beecher,  Mr.  Tilton, 
and  Henry  C.  Bowen.  The  scenes  in  the  Plymouth  con- 
troversy were  reviewed,  and  the  effect  of  the  publication 


THE  GREAT  SCANDAL.  411 

of  the  Bacon  letter.  It  was  the  object  of  the  plaintiff's 
counsel  to  present  the  witness  to  the  jury  in  the  light  of  Mr. 
Beecher's  friend;  whereas,  the  defence,  in  the  cross-exami- 
nation, introduced  him  as  the  school-mate  and  life-long 
friend  of  Mr.  Tilton.  His  cross-examination  related  to  his 
acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Woodhull,  his  accounts  with  Mr. 
Beecher,  his  stock  in  The  Golden  Age,  and  other  matters. 

Mrs.  Martha  A.  Bradshaw,  William  F.  West,  and 
Franklin  Woodruff  gave  evidence,  and  then  Mr.  Tilton 
was  called.  The  defence  at  once  objected,  on  the  ground 
that  a  husband  was  incompetent  to  prove  his  wife's  dis- 
honor. The  senior  counsel,  Mr.  Evarts,  made  the  ap- 
peal, citing  authorities  and  examples  in  proof  of  the 
claim  set  up.  General  Roger  A.  Pryor,  of  counsel  for  the 
plaintiff,  answered  the  argument  of  Mr.  Evarts,  and  was 
followed  by  Mr.  Beach,  Mr.  Tilton's  senior  counsel,  in 
further  proof  of  the  competency  of  his  client  to  testify. 
Mr.  Evarts  replied,  and  Judge  Neilson  decided  that  the 
plaintiff  was  a  competent  witness,  but  that  he  could  not 
testify  to  confidential  communications. 

Thereupon,  on  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth  day  of  the 
proceedings,  Mr.  Tilton  was  sworn,  and  proceeded  to  give 
his  evidence. 

He  told  the  story  of  his  early  career,  and  related  the 
story  of  the  memorable  interviews  between  himself  and 
Mr.  Beecher  on  December  30,  1870,  and  subsequently. 
The  contents  of  the  letter  of  confession  offered  from 


412      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

memory  by  the  witness  were  ruled  out.  He  swore  that 
instead  of  being  a  bankrupt  in  1871  he  owned  property 
valued  at  $30,000.  He  said  that  on  the  evening  in  De- 
cember, 1 870, when  Mr.  Moulton  had  brought  Mr.  Beecher 
to  his  house,  he  and  Mr.  Beecher  had  a  private  interview. 
He  had  then  told  Mr.  Beecher  that  he  might  consider 
the  letter  he  had  written  demanding  the  former's  retire- 
ment from  the  pulpit  as  unwritten,  and  that  the  inter- 
view was  held  in  the  confidence  of  his  wife  and  in  her 
behalf.  Mr.  Beecher  had  said  that  Mr.  Moulton  had 
shown  him  no  statement,  but  that  he  understood  in  gen- 
eral terms  the  object  of  the  interview,  and  he  expressed 
his  thanks  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  letter.  He  had 
then  informed  Mr.  Beecher  that  Mr.  Bowen  had  made  a 
statement  that  "You  have  been  guilty  of  adulteries  with 
numerous  members  of  your  congregation  ever  since  your 
Indianapolis  pastorate,  all  down  through  these  twenty- 
five  years ;  that  you  are  not  a  safe  man  to  dwell  in  a 
Christian  community;  that  he  knows  numerous  cases 
where  you  have  shipwrecked  the  happiness  of  Christian 
homes ;  that  he  is  determined  you  shall  no  longer  edit 
The  Christian  Union  ;  that  you  shall  no  longer  speak  in 
Plymouth  Church  ;  and  he  says  distinctly  that  you  are  a 
wolf  in  the  fold  and  that  you  should  be  extirpated." 

Mr.  Beecher  was  amazed  that  Mr.  Bowen  should  have 
so  spoke"n,  as  he  had  appeared  to  be  friendly.  Witness  in- 
formed Mr.  Beecher  that  after  his  interview  with  Mr. 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  413 

Bowen  he  had  narrated  the  substance  of  the  interview  to 
his  wife,  who  was  ill,  and  the  intelligence  had  filled  her 
with  profound  distress,  and  she  had  instantly  said  that  he 
was  violating  the  promise  he  had  made  her — that  he  would 
never  do  Mr.  Beecher  any  harm  or  ever  assist  in  any  ex- 
posure of  his  secret  to  the  public.  She  had  said  that  if 
Mr.  Bowen  made  war  upon  Mr.  Beecher,  and  if  he  (wit- 
ness) joined  in  it,  everybody  sooner  or  later  would  know 
the  reason,  and  that  would  be  to  her  shame  and  the 
children's,  and  she  could  not  endure  it.  Mr.  Beecher 
had  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  speaking  of  his  wife  in 
that  way,  and  he  had  then  read  him  a  copy  of  Mrs.  Til- 
ton's  confession,  the  original  of  which  was  in  Mr.  Moul- 
ton's' possession.  That  confession  had  been  destroyed 
after  the  tripartite  agreement  had  been  signed. 

The  next  interview  he  had  had  with  Mr.  Beecher  was 
about  January  3,  1871,  at  Mr.  Moulton's  house.  He  had 
not  then  wished  to  speak  to  Mr.  Beecher,  who  had  ruined 
his  wife  and  broken  up  his  home,  but  at  Mr.  Moulton's 
request  he  said  "  Good-morning  "  to  him.  Mr.  Beecher 
said  that  he  did  not  marvel  that  witness  did  not  feel  like 
speaking  to  him,  but  that  he  felt  more  dread  in  being 
spoken  to  than  he  could  possibly  feel  repugnance  in 
speaking,  and  that  he  hoped  witness  had  found  it  in  his 
heart  to  accept  the  communication  which  he  had  made 
through  Mr.  Moulton — that  he  had  dictated  it  out  of 
heart-break  and  anguish. 


4H      LIFE   AND   WORK    OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

The  next  interview  with  Mr.  Beecher  was  in  Febru- 
ary, 1872,  when  Mr.  Beecher  had  called  at  his  house, 
and,  in  reply  to  his  query,  had  positively  assured  him* 
that  there  was  no  dishonor  attaching  to  the  birth  of 
the  boy  Ralph.  Mrs.  Tilton  had  come  into  the  room 
at  that  time,  and  bursting  into  tears,  had  corroborated 
,Mr.  Beecher. 

The  witness  described  at  length  his  relations  with  Mrs. 
Woodhull,  and  stated  that  Mrs.  Woodhull's  biography 
had  been  written  by  her  husband,  and  that  she  had  brought 
it  to  him  arid  asked  him  to  rewrite  it.  He  had  done  so, 
leaving  out  many  extravagant  statements,  and  she  had 
been  dissatisfied.  In  June,  1873,  there  was  a  stormy  in- 
terview between  himself  and  Mr.  Moulton,  after  he  had 
learned  that  Mr.  Beecher  had  expressed  an  intention  to 
resign  from  Plymouth  Church.  Witness  was  very  angry, 
and  told  Mr.  Moulton  that  if  Mr.  Beecher  resigned  at 
that  time,  thus  reflecting  on  the  children  of  witness,  he 
would  shoot  him.  The  charges  of  Mr.  West  against  Mr. 
Tilton,  as  a  member  of  Plymouth  Church,  for  slandering 
the  pastor,  were  very  fully  reviewed,  and  in  connection 
therewith,  a  letter  written  by  witness  to  Samuel  E. 
Belcher,  as  member  of  the  Examining  Committee,  just 
before  the  meeting  of  the  Church  was  held  at  which  Mr. 
Tilton's  name  was  dropped  from  the  rolls,  was  introduced 
and  read.  In  that  letter,  witness  wrote  that  he  had  not 
accused  Mr.  Beecher  falsely.  In  relation  to  the  Bacon 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  415 

letter,  he  had  met  and  told  Mr.  Beecher  that  Dr.  Bacon 
had  called  him  (Mr.  Tilton)  a  knave,  and  a  liar,  and  a 
creature  of  Mr.  Beecher's  magnanimity,  and  had  added 
that  Mr.  Beecher  must  deny  Dr.  Bacon's  statements  or 
he  (witness)  would.  Mr.  Beecher  had  walked  away 
without  replying,  and  they  had  not  met  since.  In  regard 
to  any  improper  conduct  on  his  part  with  the  young  girl 
Bessie  Turner,  or  Lizzie  McDermott,  the  witness  stated 
emphatically  that  there  was  "  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it, 
nor  a  fact  for  its  foundation." 

Mr.  Evarts  took  up  the  cross-examination  of  the  wit- 
ness, and  questioned  him  closely  on  the  subject  of  his 
religious  views,  and  whether  his  change  in  belief  had 
caused  his  wife  much  sorrow,  and  whether  there  was  also 
a  great  difference  in  the  religious  views  of  witness  and 
Mr.  Beecher.  The  political  controversies  between  the 
two  men  were  next  taken  up,  and  the  events  following 
the  Cleveland  Convention,  when  witness  had  severely 
attacked  Mr.  Beecher,  were  reviewed.  An  entire  day  was 
occupied  in  reading  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Tilton.  The  relations  between  Mr.  Bowen  and  Mr. 
Tilton  were  thoroughly  sifted,  and  a  searching  inquiry 
was  made  into  the  so-called  confession  of  Mrs.  Tilton, 
and  the  copy  of  it  made  by  Mr.Tilton,  both  of  which,  the 
witness  said,  were  destroyed — the  first  by  his  wife,  the 
copy  by  himself.  The  witness  was  also  minutely  cross- 
examined  as  to  the  subject-matter  of  the  "  True  Story  " 


4l6      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

written  by  him  in  the  latter  part  of  1872,  subsequent  to 
the  publication  of  Mrs.  WoodhuH's  story. 

On  his  redirect  examination,  Mr.  Tilton  was  examined 
as  to  his  religious  views — his  early  belief,  the  cause,  time, 
and  nature  of  the  change  in  them ;  and  finally  on  the 
question  as  to  how  he  reconciled  the  statement  that  his 
wife  loved  everything  good  and  hated  everything  bad 
with  the  fact  that  she  was  charged  with  adultery,  he  re- 
plied that  he  had  known  his  wife  since  she  was  ten  years 
old,  had  married  her  at  twenty,  and  during  fifteen  years 
of  married  life  he  had  held  her  in  reverence  almost  to  the 
point  of  making  her  an  idol ;  when  she  fell,  it  was  the 
necessity  of  his  own  heart  to  find  some  excuse  for  her, 
and  that  excuse  he  had  found  in  the  fact  that  she  had 
been  wrapped  up  in  her  religious  teacher  and  guide,  and 
had  surrendered  her  convictions  to  him  ;  she  followed  his 
lead  trustingly,  and  would  go  after  him  like  one  blinded. 
He  thought  she  had  sinned  as  one  in  a  trance,  and  she  was 
not  a  free  agent,  and  she  would  have  done  her  teacher's 
bidding  if,  like  the  heathen  priest  in  the  Hindoo  land,  he 
had  bade  her  fling  her  child  into  the  Ganges  or  cast  her- 
self under  the  Juggernaut.  That  was  his  excuse  for  his 
wife.  The  examination  of  Mr.  Tilton  ended  with  the 
twenty-eighth  day  of  the  proceedings. 

Mrs.  Catherine  Carey,  who  had  been  nurse  in  Mr. 
Tilton's  family  in  1869,  was  called,  and  gave  evidence 
relative  to  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Beecher  with  Mrs.  Tilton. 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  417 

Mr.  George  A.  Bell,  a  member  of  Plymouth  Church, 
gave  evidence  regarding  the  interview  between  himself, 
Mr.  Halliday,  and  Mr.  Tilton. 

Mr.  Evarts  made  an  eloquent  appeal  for  the  admittance 
of  testimony  showing  that  Mr.  Beecher  had  been  called 
to  advise  in  the  troubles  between  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tilton, 
but  he  was  ruled  out. 

Mr.  Joseph  H.  Richards  (Mrs.  Tilton's  brother),  Mr. 
Jeremiah  P.  Robinson,  Mr.  William  M.  Marston,  and 
Mrs.  Francis  D.  Moulton  gave  evidence,  and  on  the 
thirty-first  day  of  the  proceedings  the  plaintiff's  counsel 
rested  their  case. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  GREAT  SCANDAL— CONTINUED. 

The  Defence  Opens. — Mr.  Tracy's  Appeal. — What  He  proposed  to  Prove. 
— The  Alleged  Confession. — Damaging  Evidence  against  Mr.Tilton. — 
His  Alleged  Improprieties  at  Various  Places. — Mrs.  Woodhull  Again. 
— Mr.  Moulton's  Evidence  Contradicted. — Various  Witnesses  for  the 
Defence. — Mr.  Beecher  on  the  Stand. — Sensation  in  Court. — His  Oath 
in  the  New  England  Form. — His  Acquaintance  with  the  Plaintiff. — 
Denial  of  Improper  Conduct. — The  Beecher-Moulton-Tilton  Interview. 
— Mr.  Beech er's  Explanation  of  His  Remorse. — Cross-Examination. 
— Mr.  Moulton  Recalled. — Letter  from  Mrs.  Tilton  to  Judge  Neilson. 
— The  Plaintiff  Recalled. — The  Summing  Up  by  the  Defence.— Judge 
Porter  and  Mr.  Evarts. — The  Prosecution  Follows. — Failure  of  the 
Jury  to  Agree. — End  of  the  Six  Months'  Trial. 

ON  Wednesday,  February  24,  1875,  Mr.  Tracy  made  the 
opening  address  for  the  defence.  He  began  by  tracing 
Mr.  Beecher's  life  and  labors  from  the  pastorate  in  the 
West  to  the  culmination  of  his  popularity  in  Brooklyn. 
Then  he  took  up  the  career  of  Theodore  Tilton,  speaking 
of  him  as  one  who  had  fallen  from  an  eminence  seldom 
attained  by  men  of  his  age  to  the  very  bottom  of  an 
abyss.  With  stinging  emphasis  he  referred  to  the  plain- 
tiff as  one  who,  "  if  he  could  realize  the  sad  truth  that  he 
was  morally  dead,  would  still  rejoice  in  this  post-mortem 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  419 

investigation  of  his  character.  But  we  propose,"  he 
added,  "  to  dissect  him  first  in  the  interest  of  truth  and 
bury  him  afterward  in  the  interest  of  decency." 

The  evidence  of  the  plaintiff  was  minutely  reviewed, 
and  referring  to  Mrs.  Tilton,  who,  he  said,  was  the  true 
defendant  in  the  case,  the  speaker  drew  a  touching  pict- 
ure of  her  affection  for  her  husband,  "  giving  her  whole 
life  to  him  without  murmur  as  to  her  own  self-sacrifice." 
Mr.  Tilton's  views  on  marriage  and  divorce  were  com- 
mented on,  and  it  was  argued  that  while  the  plaintiff  was 
the  editor  of  a  religious  newspaper  he  was  an  advocate 
of  free  lust.  The  alleged  trouble  in  Mr.  Tilton's  family, 
on  account  of  which  Mr.  Beecher  was  said  to  have  ad- 
vised separation,  was  discussed  ;  the  plaintiff  and  Mr. 
Moulton  were  accused  of  conspiracy  and  perjury ;  Cath- 
erine Carey-Smith  was  said  to  be  a  woman  of  bad  char- 
acter ;  and  Joseph  H.  Richards'  testimony  was  criticised. 

Referring  to  the  so-called  letter  of  confession  of  Mrs. 
Tilton,  Mr.  Tracy  remarked  on  its  non-production,  and 
stated  that  the  defence  would  produce  an  unimpeachable 
witness  to  prove  that  Mr.  Tilton,  after  the  Woodhull 
publication,  had  read  to  the  witness  what  he  said  was  a 
copy  of  the  alleged  confession  of  Mrs.  Tilton,  and  that 
that  copy  did  not  contain  a  charge  of  adultery  ;  also  that 
Mr.  Tilton  told  the  witness  that  the  original  confession 
was  in  the  hands  of  Francis  D.  Moulton,  and  this  not- 
withstanding Mr.  Tilton  and  Mr.  Moulton  had  sworn 
18 


420      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

that  the  confession  had  been  destroyed  at  the  time  of  the 
signing  of  the  tripartite  agreement  some  months  before. 
Mr.  Tilton  was  stigmatized  as  a  blackmailer,  and  Mr. 
Tracy  concluded  his  address  on  the  thirty-fifth  day  of 
the  proceedings  with  a  long  and  affecting  tribute  to  the 
Plymouth  pastor,  and  a  promise  to  the  jury  of  evidence 
that  would  prove  him  guiltless. 

Edward  J.  Ovington,  the  first  witness  for  the  defence, 
testified  that  the  plaintiff  had  told  him  that  his  wife 
would  say  anything  for  her  husband.  Rufus  E.  Holmes 
testified  to  improprieties  of  the  plaintiff  at  Winsted, 
Conn.  Mrs.  Ovington  related  conversations  she  had 
had  with  the  Tiltons,  and  stated  that  Mrs.  Tilton  had 
denied  to  her  that  Mr.  Beecher  had  offered  her  any  im- 
propriety. Mrs.  Sarah  C.  D.  Putnam  gave  evidence  of 
the  devotion  of  Mrs.  Tilton  to  her  husband,  and  Mr. 
Tilton's  strictures  on  the  church,  and  his  waning  faith  in 
Mr.  Beecher's  powers.  Samuel  E.  Belcher  and  Mr. 
McKelway  testified  to  the  statements  made  by  Mr.  Til- 
ton  concerning  the  charge  against  Mr.  Beecher.  Then 
followed  testimony  concerning  the  plaintiff's  relations 
with  Mrs.  Woodhull,  one  witness  testifying  that  the 
Woodhull  scandal  had  been  discussed  in  Mr.  Tilton's 
presence  before  its  publication. 

The  tripartite  covenant  was  explained  by  Samuel 
Wilkinson ;  Mr.  Moulton's  evidence  was  contradicted  in 
many  instances  by  Mr.  Archibald  Baxter,  who  stated 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  421 

that  in  various  conversations  between  them  Mr. 
Moulton  had  declared  Mr.  Beecher  to  be  innocent. 
Reuben  W.  Ropes,  Abner  H.  Davis,  Edward  A.  Biden, 
William  B.  Barber,  and  Charles  H.  Caldwell  swore  to 
Mr.  Moulton's  denial  of  the  Woodhull  story  about  Mr. 
Beecher  and  Mrs.  Tiltoji.  Several  witnesses  testified  to 
Mr.  Tilton's  opinions  on  marriage  and  divorce,  and  Mr. 
Halliday  stated  that  in  1873  Mr.  Tilton  had  said  to 
him,  "  My  case  against  Mr.  Beecher  is  wholly  irrespec- 
tive of  my  wife."  Witnesses  were  examined  in  the  Ply- 
mouth Church  Records,  and  then  Miss  Bessie  Turner 
was  called,  and  testified  to  Mr.  Tilton's  eccentricities  and 
"  moods,"  his  unkindness  to  his  wife,  and  his  attempts  on 
herself.  Three  colored  servants  of  Mrs.  Woodhull  gave 
evidence  of  Mr.  Tilton's  personal  relations  with  that  lady 
in  support  of  Mr.  Tracy's  declaration,  in  the  opening  ad- 
dress, that  the  defence  would  show  conspiracy  between 
them  to  publish  the  scandal.  Evidence  was  given  of  Mr. 
Tilton's  determination  to  "  smash "  his  wife  and  Mr. 
Beecher ;  also  further  evidence  in  reference  to  the  tri- 
partite agreement,  including  the  evidence  of  Charles 
Storrs  and  James  Freeland.  Several  witnesses  testified 
generally  on  the  case ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  T.  Moore 
impeached  Mrs.  Carey  ;  and  James  Redpath  related  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  obtained  the  "True  Story." 

On  the  fifty-sixth  day  of  the  proceedings,   April    i, 
1875,  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  called  and  took  the  oath 


422      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

in  the  New  England  form — "  I  swear  by  the  ever-living 
God."  He  gave  an  abridged  history  of  his  early  life  and 
struggles,  his  subsequent  religious  and  political  services, 
his  domestic  relations,  and  his  intimacy  with  Mr.  Bowen, 
Mr.  Tilton,  and  Mr.  Moulton,  taking  in  the  period  from 
the  time  of  his  birth  down  to  December,  1870,  when,  ac- 
cording to  the  theory  of  the  defence,  the  conspiracy 
began.  The  growth  of  Plymouth  Church  from  embyro 
to  its  then  magnitude,  with  between  twenty-five  hundred 
and  three  thousand  communicants ;  the  building  up  of 
The  Independent  and  The  Christian  Union  (the  latter 
from  a  circulation  of  six  hundred  to  thirty  thousand 
copies  in  a  single  year)  ;  the  rapid  production  of  thirty- 
five  volumes — all  these  labors  were  merely  mentioned  as 
ordinary  events.  The  great  help  which  his  wife  had 
given  him  during  all  the  years  of  their  married  life  was, 
however,  more  fully  dwelt  on  and  emphasized. 

An  account  of  his  first  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Tilton 
was  given.  He  had  known  of  her  when  she  was  a  girl, 
but  had  had  no  personal  acquaintance  with  her  until  her 
marriage  to  Mr.  Tilton,  when  he  had  called  on  her,  at  her 
husband's  request.  He  stated  that  in  December,  1870,  he 
had  advised  Mrs.  Tilton  to  separate  from  her  husband  on 
account  of  the  great  unhappiness  in  the  family  and  her 
treatment  by  her  husband.  He  denied  in  the  most  posi- 
tive and  emphatic  terms  the  commission  by  him  of  any 
offence  against  Mr.  Tilton  or  of  any  crime  against  his  wife. 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  423 

Briefly  and  emphatically  he  denied  the  statements  of  the 
nurse,  Mrs.  Carey  ;  he  did  not  remember  ever  having  seen 
Mr.  Richards  while  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Tilton's  house  ;  and 
he  denied  the  truth  of  Mr.  Tilton's  allegations  concern- 
ing his  acts  on  October  10  and  17,  r868.  During  his  en- 
tire acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Tilton,  there  had  never  been 
any  undue  personal  familiarity  between  that  lady  and 
himself,  nor  had  he  at  any  time,  directly  or  indirectly, 
solicited  improper  favors  from  her. 

The  scene  with  Mr.  Bowen  on  December  26,  1870,  was 
rehearsed,  and  the  witness  stated  that  Mr.  Bowen,  in  de- 
livering Mr.  Tilton's  letter  requiring  Mr.  Beecher's  resig- 
nation, had  taken  pains  to  represent  that  he  was  a  volun- 
tary messenger  and  ignorant  of  the  contents  of  the  letter. 
On  reading  that  letter,  Mr.  Bowen  had  been  as  indig- 
nant as  he  was  himself,  and  a  conversation  had  followed, 
in  which  it  was  revealed  that  both  gentlemen  had  heard 
of  many  matters  discreditable  to  Mr.  Tilton,  and  witness 
had  emphatically  declared  to  Mr.  Bowen  that  the  reten- 
tion of  Mr.  Tilton  on  The  Independent  and  Union  could 
not  but  be  injurious  to  both  journals.  This,  witness 
stated,  was  the  first  and  only  offence  committed  against 
Mr.  Tilton,  and  the  injury  to  him  professionally  which 
followed  in  his  discharge  by  Mr.  Bowen  a  few  days  later 
was  the  only  injury  the  plaintiff  had  received,  although 
witness  was  led  at  the  time  of  the  signing  the  apology  to 
imagine  that  there  were  other  grounds  of  complaint. 


424      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

On  the  night  of  December  30,  1870,  accompanied  by 
Mr.  Moulton,  witness  had  called  on  Mr.  Tilton,  who  had 
then  withdrawn  the  letters  he  had  written,  and  recited  to 
witness  his  troubles  with  Mr.  Bowen ;  he  had  then 
charged  witness  with  abetting  in  his  removal  by  Mr. 
Bowen,  with  having  superseded  him  in  his  family,  with 
alienating  the  affections  of  his  wife,  with  corrupting  his 
wife  and  teaching  her  deceitfulness,  and  finally,  with  hav- 
ing solicited  her  to  immoral  relations.  After  an  objec- 
tion by  the  plaintiff,  the  whole  conversation  with  Mrs. 
Tilton  was  admitted,  and  the  witness  described  with  great 
minuteness  how  Mrs.  Tilton,  after  hearing  Mr.  Beecher's 
story  of  what  her  husband  had  told  him,  had  declared 
that  "  she  could  not  help  it ;  "  that  she  "  had  been  wor- 
ried out  with  his  importunities ; "  and  that  the  charge  was 
"  not  true." 

At  his  suggestion,  but  not  at  his  dictation,  she  had 
then  taken  a  pen  and  written  the  letter  of  retraction, 
and  had  of  her  own  volition  added  the  postscript,  which 
specifically  denied  the  charge  of  "  improper  solicitation." 
On  December  3ist,  in  an  interview  at  witness'  house, 
Mr.  Moulton  reproached  him  with  having  taken  an  unfair 
advantage  in  getting  a  retraction  from  Mrs.  Tilton,  and 
he  read  a  letter  from  her  asking  that  both  her  confession 
to  her  husband  and  her  letter  of  retraction  should  be  re- 
turned, in  order  that  she  might  destroy  them.  Mr. 
Moulton  assured  witness  that  there  would  be  no  further 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  425 

trouble,  and  on  his  representations  the  letter  was  given 
up. 

In  narrating  the  story  of  the  interview  between  him- 
self and  Mr.  Moulton  on  January  ist,  Mr.  Beecher  de- 
scribed the  grief  which  had  overwhelmed  him  at  that  time 
as  coming  from  three  sources  :  his  sorrow  at  having  spoken 
evil  of  Mr.  Tilton,  his  remorse  at  having  believed  the 
scandalous  stories  against  his  friend,  and  his  self-reproach 
when  Mr.  Moulton  had  assured  him  that  they  were  false; 
and  lastly,  his  mortification  and  sorrow  on  coming  to  the 
conclusion,  to  which  Mr.  Moulton's  declarations  urged 
him,  that  through  his  want  of  foresight  and  prudence  he 
had  won  the  affection  of  Mrs.  Tilton  and  come  between 
her  and  her  husband.  Mr.  Moulton  had  suggested  that 
if  Mr.  Tilton  could  hear  him  talking  in  the  strain  he  had 
been  talking  that  evening  there  would  be  peace  once 
more  between  them,  and  he  asked  permission  of  witness 
to  make  a  memorandum  of  what  he  had  said,  so  that  he 
might  read  it  to  Mr.  Tilton. 

Mr.  Moulton  had  then  written  some  sentences  on  sepa- 
rate slips  of  paper,  and  asked  witness  to  sign  what  he  had 
written,  but  he  refused.  Mr.  Moulton  had  then  urged 
him  to  put  his  name,  so  as  to  let  Mr.  Tilton  know  that 
it  really  came  from  him,  and  without  reading  or  knowing 
what  was  on  the  paper,  he  had  written  near  the  bottom 
of  the  sheet,  "  I  have  intrusted  this  to  Frank  Moulton 
in  confidence,"  and  had  written  his  name  to  that  separate 


426      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

note.  He  denied  emphatically  that  anything  in  the  so- 
called  letter  of  contrition  was  his,  beyond  that  foot-note, 
and  that  anything  he  had  said  resembled  or  warranted 
the  expressions  therein  contained.  Contradictions  were 
given  to  the  evidence  of  Mr.  Tilton  and  Mr.  Moulton  on 
important  particulars,  and  it  was  indignantly  and  em- 
phatically denied  that  reference  had  ever  been  made  by 
Mr.  Tilton  to  the  offence  then  charged.  In  reference  to 
the  plaintiff's  testimony  relating  to  the  interview  about 
the  child  Ralph,  the  witness  said  that  it  was  a  monstrous 
and  absolute  falsehood  that  there  had  been  any  such  con- 
versation, or  anything  out  of  which  such  a  conversation 
could  be  made  or  imagined. 

The  witness  then  proceeded  with  an  explanation  of 
sundry  letters  and  interviews,  Mr.  Moulton's  first  sug- 
gestions about  money  to  help  out  Mr.  Tilton,  witness'  ac- 
quaintance with  Mrs.  Woodhull,  and  her  attempt  to 
blackmail  him  previous  to  the  publication  of  the  Wood- 
hull  scandal.  He  further  stated  that  until  July,  1874, 
he  had  been  ignorant  that  adultery  had  been  ever  re- 
ferred to  or  charged,  and  reference  was  made  to  at- 
tempts on  the  part  of  Mr.  Moulton  and  General  But- 
ler to  control  the  Investigating  Committee.  In  his 
cross-examination,  when  asked  whether  he  anticipated 
sudden  death  in  1873,  the  witness  said  that  his  fears 
of  death  were  consequent  upon  periods  of  depression. 
Counsel  for  the  plaintiff  put  in  an  application  for  a 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  427 

policy  of  insurance  on  the  life  of  Mr.  Beecher  in  March, 
1874. 

The  re-direct  examination  followed,  and  on  the  sixty- 
ninth  day  of  the  proceedings,  April  21,  1875,  Mr. 
Beecher's  testimony  was  concluded. 

Henry  M.  Cleveland  stated  that  his  business  connec- 
tion with  The  Christian  Union  and  Mr.  Beecher  had 
ceased  after  January  I,  1874,  and  he  swore  that  on  June 
2,  1873,  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, he  had  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  Beecher  at  The 
Christian  Union  office  in  New  York,  and  Mr.  Beecher 
had  then  directed  him  to  address  letters  to  him  in  care 
of  Bigelow  &  Kennard  in  Boston.  He  did  not  see  Mr. 
Beecher  again  until  the  Friday  evening  of  the  fol- 
lowing week.  The  Rev.  W.  H.  H.  Murray,  of  Boston, 
preached  in  Plymouth  Church  on  the  Sunday  following 
June  2d,  and  Mr.  Beecher  was  not  present.  The  ten- 
dency of  this  evidence  was  to  directly  contradict  the 
alleged  interview  between  Mrs.  Moulton  and  Mr.  Beecher 
on  June  2,  1873. 

Mr.  Moulton  was  recalled  by  the  defence  fcr  cross- 
examination,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Partridge,  the 
former  cashier  of  Woodruff  &  Robinson,  who  contra- 
dicted the  evidence  of  the  previous  witness.  General 
Tracy,  of  counsel  for  the  defence,  testified  in  contradic- 
tion of  statements  of  Mr.  Tilton  and  Mr.  Moulton. 

On  the  seventy-seventh  day  of  the  proceedings,  a  stir 
18* 


428      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

was  created  by  Mrs.  Tilton  standing  up  in  court  and  de- 
siring that  a  communication  from  her  should  be  read. 
She  handed  the  following  letter  to  Judge  Neilson : 

"MAY  3,  1875. 

"  JUDGE  NEILSON  :  I  ask  the  privilege  from  you  for  a 
few  words  in  my  own  behalf.  I  feel  very  deeply  the  in- 
justice of  my  position  in  the  law  and  before  the  court 
now  sitting;  and  while  I  have  understood  and  respected 
from  the  beginning  Mr.  Evarts'  principle  in  the  matter, 
yet  since  your  last  session  I  have  been  so  sensible  of  the 
power  of  my  enemies,  that  my  soul  cries  out  before  you, 
and  the  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  that  they  beware  how, 
by  a  divided  verdict,  they  consign  to  my  children  a  false 
and  irrevocable  stain  upon  their  mother !  For  five  years 
past  I  have  been  the  victim  of  circumstances  most  cruel 
and  unfortunate;  struggling  from  time  to  time  only  for 
a  place  to  live  honorably  and  truthfully.  Released  for 
some  months  from  the  will  by  whose  power  uncon- 
sciously I  criminated  myself  again  and  again,  I  declare 
solemnly  before  you,  without  fear  of  man  and  by  faith  in 
God,  that  I  am  innocent  of  the  crimes  charged  against 
me.  I  would  like  to  tell  my  wJiole  sad  story  truthfully 
— to  acknowledge  the  frequent  falsehoods  wrung  from 
me  by  compulsion — though  at  the  same  time  unwilling 
to  reveal  the  secrets  of  my  married  life,  which  only  the 
vital  importance  of  my  position  makes  necessary.  T  as- 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  429 

sume  the  entire  responsibility  of  this  request,  unknown 
to  friend  or  counsel  of  either  side,  and  await  your  Honor's 
honorable  decision.  With  great  respect, 

"  ELIZABETH  R.  TILTON." 

Judge  Neilson  considered  the  letter,  and  sent  the  lady 
a  written  reply  in  which  he  pointed  out  the  impossibility 
of  her  request  being  granted.  Mr.  Henry  C.  Bowen  was 
called,  and  gave  evidence  in  rebuttal  of  Mr.  Beecher's 
testimony.  The  plaintiff  was  recalled,  and  gave  evidence 
in  rebuttal  generally  of  the  testimony  on  the  side  of  the 
defence,  and  the  eighty-fifth  day  of  the  proceedings  saw 
the  termination  of  the  taking  of  the  testimony. 

On  May  19,  1875,  Judge  Porter  began  the  summing 
up  for  the  defence.  With  emphatic  denunciations  of 
Mr.  Tilton,  the  learned  counsel  condemned  in  strong 
language  Mr.  Moulton  and  other  witnesses,  and  cleverly 
contrasted  the  life  and  character  of  the  plaintiff  and  de- 
fendant. Miss  Turner's  character  was  extolled,  the 
scenes  between  herself  and  plaintiff  were  reviewed,  and 
her  testimony  favorably  compared  with  the  statements 
of  Mr.  Tilton's  witnesses.  The  correspondence  between 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tilton  was  carefully  gone  over,  and  Henry 
C.  Bowen's  evidence  was  analyzed  in  view  of  showing 
points  of  agreement  between  that  evidence  and  Mr. 
Beecher's.  Referring  again  to  Mr.  Tilton  and  Mr.  Moul- 
ton, Mr.  Tilton  was  declared  to  be  the  master  and  Mr. 


430      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Moulton  the  minion.  The  letter  of  contrition  was  ana- 
lyzed, and  modes  of  expression  therein  declared  to  be  un- 
like those  of  Mr.  Beecher,  and  several  famous  phrases  were 
ascribed  to  the  pen  of  Mr.  Tilton.  Mrs.  Moulton  was 
declared  to  have  sworn  falsely  on  account  of  her  husband. 

Six  days  were  occupied  in  the  summing  up,  the  evi- 
dence of  every  witness  being  carefully  dissected  and  com- 
mented on,  the  learned  counsel  concluding  with  a  tribute 
to  Judge  Neilson,  and  the  belief  expressed  to  the  jury 
that  the  verdict  would  be  one  which  would  gladden  the 
hearts  of  many,  and  which  would  illuminate  Brooklyn 
Heights  ;  a  verdict  which  would  send  an  electric  thrill  of 
joy  through  Christendom. 

Mr.  Evarts  likewise  summed  up  for  the  defence.  His 
argument  commenced  on  the  ninety-second  day  of  the 
proceedings,  and  ended  with  the  close  of  the  ninety- 
ninth  day. 

Mr.  Beach  commenced  his  argument  for  the  plaintiff 
on  Wednesday,  June  9,  1875.  He  eloquently  described 
the  feelings  of  a  husband  whose  wife's  honor  had  been 
stolen  away,  and  referred  to  the  influence  that  had  been 
brought  to  bear  in  support  of  the  defendant  during  the 
trial.  "  I  have  seen,"  said  the  learned  counsel,  "  the 
zealots  and  the  parasites  gathering  around  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  in  this  trial,  and  shedding  their  influence  both 
in  and  out  of  this  court  in  his  favor."  The  foreman  of 
the  jury  was  addressed  in  reference  to  personal  appeals 


THE  GREAT  SCANDAL.  431 

that  had  been  made  to  him  by  the  counsel  for  the  de- 
fendant, and  an  earnest  appeal  was  made  to  the  jury  to 
decide  the  case  strictly  according  to  their  oaths. 

The  argument  proper  was  mostly  confined  to  answer- 
ing Judge  Porter's  summing  up  for  Mr.  Beecher.  Mr. 
Tilton  was  eulogized,  but  the  counsel  said  he  would  not 
indulge  in  denunciations  of  Mr.  Beecher.  The  publica- 
tion of  Mrs.  Tilton's  letters  was  explained  in  a  way  fa- 
vorable to  the  plaintiff,  and  various  points  that  had  been 
touched  upon  by  Judge  Porter  were  gone  over  in  detail. 
Mr.  Beecher  was  asserted  to  have  been  a  party  to  the 
policy  of  silence.  The  anticipations  of  triumph  indulged 
in  by  the  defendant's  counsel  were  treated  with  severe 
denunciation,  and  in  referring  to  the  power  possessed  by 
the  party  of  the  defendant,  the  orator  said  that  Mr. 
Evarts  "  had  more  than  the  hundred  eyes  of  Argus,  more 
than  the  hundred  arms  of  Briareus,  and  also  the  gold  of 
Midas,  which  had  been  placed  where  it  would  have  the 
best  effect." 

There  was  an  excited  colloquy  between  Judge  Porter 
and  Mr.  Beach  concerning  the  treatment  of  the  charge  of 
improper  proposals,  and  then  Mr.  Beach  applied  himself 
with  renewed  energy  to  the  sifting  of  the  evidence  and  a 
review  of  Mr.  Bowen's  relations  to  the  case.  Mr.  Moul- 
ton's  conduct  was  vigorously  defended,  and  the  interview 
of  December  3Oth  and  the  alleged  confession  of  Mrs. 
Tilton  which  had  been  destroyed  were  brought  under 


432      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

consideration,  and  the  doctrines  and  sentiments  attrib- 
uted to  Mr.  Beecher  in  the  corruption  of  Mrs.  Tilton  were 
minutely  set  forth. 

The  learned  counsel  agreed  with  Mr.  Evarts  unreserv- 
edly in  his  reverential  estimate  of  the  motive,  the  ability, 
and  the  success  of  Mr.  Beecher's  grand  performance  in 
England  on  behalf  of  the  great  question  of  servitude  and 
freedom,  but  with  Mr.  Evarts'  deductions  therefrom  in  re- 
gard to  the  present  issue  he  was  compelled  to  differ  en- 
tirely. Was  it  possible  that  they  had  become  so  low  in 
the  administration  of  justice  that  they  could  not  pro- 
nounce judgment  against  great  and  noble  men  for  fear  of 
the  scoffs  of  the  aristocracy  of  England.  In  that  case, 
he  begged  God  to  help  justice  and  American  institu- 
tions. 

The  Woodhull  publication  was  taken  up  and  discussed, 
and  it  was  asserted  that  Mr.  Tilton  had  no  part  in  that 
publication,  nor  had  the  information  therein  contained 
come  from  him  concerning  Mr.  Tilton's  connection  with 
Mrs.  Woodhull.  Mr.  Beach  further  said  that  he  knew  of 
no  evidence  in  the  case  which  tended  to  show  that  Mrs. 
Woodhull's  character  was  so  bad  as  to  make  all  associa- 
tion with  her  disreputable.  A  tribute  of  respect  was 
paid  to  Mrs.  Beecher's  character  for  her  undeviating  faith 
in  her  husband  and  her  actions  as  a  ministering  angel  to 
him  in  his  hour  of  suffering  and  sorrow,  and  then  the 
affirmative  portion  of  the  argument  was  taken  up. 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  433 

Mr.  Beach  censured  the  attendance  in  court  of  Mrs. 
Tilton  and  Mrs.  Beecher,  and  the  alleged  theatric  exhi- 
bitions and  displays  on  the  part  of  Plymouth  Church,  as 
all  designed  to  influence  in  an  indirect  and  insidious 
mode  the  conclusions  of  the  court.  If  Mr.  Beecher  were 
innocent,  he  would  have  needed  no  such  trappings  or 
aid,  but  he  could  have  bravely  met  the  accusations  with- 
out any  of  those  policies  or  stratagems.  The  letters  of 
Mrs.  Tilton  to  her  husband  were  considered,  their  ex- 
pressions analyzed,  and  their  bearings  on  the  relations  of 
the  parties  to  the  suit  shown.  That  Christianity  was  in 
any  way  at  stake  in  the  trial  was  altogether  scouted  by 
the  counsel,  and  there  need  be  no  fear,  he  said,  of  the 
consequences  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  fall  upon  the 
progress  of  Christian  civilization  or  Christian  influence. 

The  West  charges  were  gone  into,  and  the  alleged  evi- 
dence of  Mr.  Beecher's  efforts  to  suppress  the  scandal  ; 
and  in  relation  to  the  theory  of  blackmail,  the  counsel 
argued  that  all  the  evidence  and  probabilities  were  against 
such  an  hypothesis.  Mr.  Beecher's  denial  of  guilt  was  un- 
supported, and  they  had  the  confronting  testimony  of 
three  witnesses,  and  of  circumstantial  evidence.  The  issue 
of  the  case  was  an  action  by  a  husband  alleging  himself 
to  have  been  wronged  in  his  dearest  relations  against 
the  alleged  wrong-doer.  They  did  not  ask  for  damages, 
as  "  Theodore  Tilton  disdains  the  idea  of  touching  the 
gold  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher." 


434      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD    BEECHER. 

The  letters  of  Retraction  and  Contrition  were  analyzed, 
and  counsel  argued  that  both  were  dictated  by  Mr. 
Beecher,  and  that  similar  phrases  in  both  documents 
were  identical  with  expressions  in  the  defendant's  early 
works.  It  was  Mr.  Beecher's  duty  to  have  confessed  his 
sin  and  asked  forgiveness  of  Plymouth  Church  and  the 
Christian  world.  Bessie  Turner's  evidence  was  referred 
to  as  intrinsically  incredible,  and  as  being  immaterial  so 
far  as  the  vital  point  of  the  case  was  concerned.  In  the 
closing  point  of  his  argument,  Mr.  Beach  called  the  good 
faith  of  the  jury  into  question,  and  declared  that  he  had 
evidence  that  jurymen  had  been  improperly  approached. 
This  was  met  by  indignant  denials  both  from  the  jury 
and  the  counsel  of  defendant. 

Continuing,  counsel  charged  Mr.  Beecher  with  perjury, 
and  criticised  the  want  of  orthodoxy  in  his  sermons ;  and 
in  concluding  he  declared  that  the  duty  he  had  had  to 
perform  had  been  most  unwelcome  and  painful,  and  he 
would  leave  the  case  in  the  hands  of  the  jury,  filled  with 
unaffected  admiration  and  veneration  for  the  magnificent 
genius  of  the  defendant.  But  rich  as  the  defendant  was 
in  mental  endowments,  and  prodigal  as  his  labors  had 
been,  they  could  shelter  no  offence  against  the  law. 
"  Genius  as  lofty,  learning  more  rare  and  profound,  could 
not  save  Bacon.  He  sinned  and  fell,  and  upon  his  mem- 
ory history  has  written  the  epitaph,  '  The  greatest  and  the 
meanest  of  mankind.'"  With  a  final  appeal  to  the  jury, 


THE   GREAT   SCANDAL.  435 

the  learned  counsel  closed  his  argument  on  the  one  hun- 
dred and  ninth  day  of  the  proceedings. 

On  Thursday,  June  24,  1875,  Judge  Neilson  delivered 
his  charge,  which  was  devoted  to  the  nature  and  rules  of 
evidence,  the  character  and  credibility  of  the  witnesses, 
and  rules  for  the  guidance  of  the  jury. 

The  jury  retired,  and  on  the  one  hundred  and  twelfth 
day  of  the  proceedings,  July  2,  1875,  they  returned  into 
court,  and  stated  their  inability  to  agree  on  a  verdict ; 
whereupon,  after  receiving  the  thanks  of  the  court  for  the 
careful  attention  they  had  shown  throughout  the  trial, 
they  were  discharged. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

HOME-LIFE. 

Mr.  Beecher's  Domestic  Habits. — Early  to  Bed,  Early  to  Rise. — An  After- 
noon Nap. — Reluctant  to  leave  Home. — Plain  Fare. — No  More 
Nocturnal  Suppers. — His  Work  Hours  — Preparatory  Work. — A 
Punctilious  Correspondent. — Answers  all  Letters  with  his  Own  Hand. 
— Persevering  Industry. — His  Old  Home  on  the  Heights. — Its  Art 
Treasures. — Stuart's  Reminiscence.— Beecher's  Temperance  Principles. 
— Financiering. — Valuable  Collection  of  Steel  Engravings. — Descrip- 
tion of  His  Library  and  Methods  of  Work. — An  Amateur  Bibliophile. 

MR.  BEECHER'S  early  training  and  nature  made  him  a 
very  domestic  man.  He  was  an  early  riser,  and  when  not 
prevented  by  his  professional  engagements,  always  retired 
at  10  o'clock.  When  prevented  by  his  duties  from  re- 
tiring early,  he  always  took  a  nap  on  the  sofa  in  his  study 
in  the  afternoon.  He  was  a  great  believer  in  "  tired  Nat- 
ture's  sweet  restorer,  balmy  sleep."  When  travelling  he 
always  greatly  missed  his  home  surroundings.  It  was 
his  characteristic  to  never  utter  complaints,  but  always 
to  adapt  himself  cheerfully  to  circumstances.  Fre- 
quently called  away  from  home,  especially  in  his  early 
days  in  Brooklyn,  he  left  cheerfully  yet  reluctantly,  par- 
ticularly if  not  accompanied  by  his  wife,  because  he  knew 


MRS.  HENRY  WARD  BEECIIER, 


HOME-LIFE.  439 

he  should  not  be  contented  until  he  returned  to  the 
comforts  of  his  household. 

He  preferred  plain  cooking,  and  did  not  have  a  hearty 
appetite.  Until  he  became  corpulent  he  used  to  take  a 
cold  meat  supper  after  preaching  or  lecturing,  but  in  later 
years  he  gave  this  up.  He  usually  passed  his  mornings 
in  his  study,  engaged  on  his  editorial  work  or  miscella- 
neous writing.  He  generally  answered  all  his  letters 
with  his  own  hands.  He  was  punctilious  in  his  habit 
of  answering  all  letters  addressed  to  him.  Sometimes 
he  postponed  answering  those  that  were  not  pressing ;  the 
pile  would  accumulate  until  in  a  mood  of  desperation 
he  would  devote  an  entire  morning  to  his  correspondence. 
He  usually  wrote  out  in  full  his  lectures,  but  he  only 
made  memoranda  for  his  sermons,  generally  on  Friday 
mornings,  but  often  not  until  Sunday  morning. 

His  Sunday  morning  sermon  was  generally  of  a  relig- 
ious character,  while  in  the  evening  he  frequently  spoke 
upon  affairs  of  contemporaneous  import.  Often  his 
labors  would  be  continued  through  the  afternoon,  as  he 
was  always  desirous  of  getting  as  much  work  out  of  him- 
self as  he  could.  In  consequence  of  his  numerous  literary 
engagements,  he  relegated  the  pastoral  work  of  visiting 
his  numerous  congregation  and  the  details  of  the  church 
to  his  assistant.  He  found  little  leisure,  too,  for  social 
calling ;  though  he  was  always  pleased  to  have  his  social 
friends  visit  him  in  his  home.  A  picture  of  domesticity 


44O      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

always  greeted  them  ;  for,  the  labors  of  the  day  over,  he 
passed  the  evening  with  his  family.  He  always  ad- 
dressed Mrs.  Beecher  as  "  Mother,"  and  she  always 
called  him  "  Father."  Playing  backgammon  was  his  fa- 
vorite pastime  in  the  family  circle. 

His  later  years  were  passed  in  the  home  of  his  son  on 
Hicks  Street,  after  he  gave  up  his  house  on  Columbia 
Street.  All  of  his  children  had  married  and  left  the  pa- 
rental roof,  and  he  wanted  to  be  in  his  son's  family,  where 
there  were  children  growing  up  to  recall  his  own  ado- 
lescent days.  Another  reason  assigned  for  his  giving  up 
his  establishment  on  Columbia  Street  was  a  wish  to 
economize  in  his  expenditures.  His  farm  at  Peekskill 
was  a  great  expense  to  him,  and  there  in  the  summer  he 
passed  his  happiest  days  of  do  Ice  far  niente ;  his  unos- 
tentatious charities  drew  largely  from  his  income,  and 
several  years  ago  he  decided  to  abandon  the  house  on  the 
Heights.  He  never  entertained  much  in  the  way  of 
dinner-giving,  though  there  was  always  the  spare  plate  at 
his  table  for  the  stranger,  and  generally  some  guest  to 
take  it.  It  was  his  custom  to  have  friends  to  breakfast 
with  him  Sunday  morning  whom  he  had  invited  to  his 
pew.  A  long  list  of  celebrities  could  be  given  of  those 
who  were  thus  honored.  He  continued  this  custom  in 
his  son's  house.  While  he  never  took  wine  himself,  or 
smoked,  he  did  not  object  to  others  so  indulging. 

The  late  William  Stuart  used  to  tell  a  good  story  "  on 


HOME-LIFE.  441 

himself"  of  a  visit  to  Mr.  Beecher  to  invite  him  to  at- 
tend a  breakfast  he  was  giving  to  the  late  Lord  Hough- 
ton  at  Delmonico's,  corner  of  Fourteenth  Street  and 
Fifth  Avenue.  The  accomplished  ex-manager  and  lit- 
terateur was  received  by  Mr.  Beecher  in  his  study  on 
the  top  floor,  with  a  bay-window  commanding  an  ex- 
tensive view  of  the  lower  part  of  New  York  City,  the 
Bay,  and  the  distant  Jersey  shores.  He  found  Mr. 
Beecher  sitting  in  his  shirt-sleeves  at  a  long  table,  hard 
at  work  on  an  editorial  for  the  Independent.  Mr. 
Beecher  begged  a  few  moments'  indulgence  until  he  had 
completed  the  article,  and  Mr.  Stuart  engaged  himself  in 
viewing  the  books  and  pictures  in  the  "  workshop  "  and 
the  animated  panorama  afforded  by  the  window.  Mr. 
Beecher  cheerfully  accepted  the  invitation,  remarking 
that  he  was  familiar  with  the  poems  and  literary  work  of 
Richard  Moncton  Milnes  before  he  became  Lord  Hough- 
ton  the  statesman. 

When  Mr.  Stuart  was  leaving,  Mr.  Beecher  observed, 
"  I  do  not  take  any  wine  and  liquor  myself,  but  do  not 
object  to  others  imbibing,  if  they  wish  to  do  so."  He 
crossed  the  room  to  an  old-fashioned  bureau  on  the  side, 
and  opened  a  drawer,  from  which  bulged  forth  several 
disused  collars  and  cuffs,  newspapers  preserved  for  ref- 
erence, manuscripts,  and  such-like,  and  thrusting  his  arm 
down  a  corner,  drew  forth  a  bottle  of  what  the  other 
instantly  recognized  as  vin  ordinaire  claret. 


442      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

"  Now  the  ascent  here  is  fatiguing,"  said  Mr.  Beecher ; 
"  perhaps  you  will  take  a  glass  of  this." 

"  Thanks — thanks,"  replied  Mr.  Stuart,  adding,  by  way 
of  emphasizing  his  declination,  "  I  never  touch  liquor 
myself." 

Mr.  Beecher,  in  his  surprise,  restored  the  bottle  to  its 
place,  and  familiarly  sitting  on  the  side  of  the  table,  ex- 
claimed : 

"  You  astonish  me.  How  has  a  man  of  the  world  like 
you  escaped  ?  Why,  I  did  not  think  it  possible  for  a 
man  like  you  to  be  a  temperance  man  !  I  can  under- 
stand now  how  you  have  preserved  your  health  and 
physique,  notwithstanding  the  late  hours  you  have  been 
compelled  to  keep." 

Mr.  Stuart  bore  the  felicitation  meekly,  merely  stating 
that  his  favorite  beverage  was  buttermilk,  whereupon 
Mr.  Beecher  regretted  he  had  none  to  give  him,  stating 
that  he  also  was  very  fond  of  it. 

At  the  breakfast,  a  few  days  later,  the  jovial  raconteur 
forgot  his  temperance  declaration,  and  indulged  freely 
in  champagne  which  he  had  served  him  in  a  goblet. 
Mr.  Beecher  sat  by  his  side,  and  Stuart  observed  that 
there  were  at  times  pauses  in  the  other's  remarks 
which  were  astonishing  in  so  fluent  a  speaker.  While 
draining  a  goblet  of  the  "liquid  sunshine"  he  chanced 
to  glance  at  Mr.  Beecher,  who  had  paused  in  the  mid- 
dle of  a  sentence  in  reply  to  a  query  from  Lord  Hough- 


HOME-LIFE.  443 

ton,  and  was  observing  Stuart  intently,  not  to  say  curi- 
ously. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Mr.  Beecher,  as  Mr. 
Stuart  placed  his  goblet  on  the  table — "  I  beg  your  par- 
don, but  I  must  have  misunderstood  you  the  other  day, 
when  you  said  you  did  not  drink  anything  but  butter- 
milk ?  " 

"  Except  at  meals,"  quickly  responded  Mr.  Stuart,  re- 
membering for  the  first  time  the  circumstance. 

In  his  home  on  Columbia  Street,  Mr.  Beecher  accumu- 
lated a  very  valuable  collection  of  steel  engravings,  said 
to  be  second  only  to  that  of  the  late  Charles  Sumner. 
These  engravings  were  so  numerous  that  they  lined  the 
walls  along  the  stairways,  and  were  to  be  found  in  all 
parts  of  the  house.  The  collection  was  for  years  his 
hobby.  He  had  a  few  good  oil  paintings.  He  was  an 
enthusiastic  advocate  of  the  arts  of  "the  beautiful"  in 
everything.  Of  course,  flowers  were  always  a  prominent 
decoration  of  his  home.  He  left  all  the  management  of 
his  household  to  his  wife,  always  satisfied  with  whatever 
arrangements  she  made  ;  but  in  his  study  and  library  he 
was  left  supreme,  to  let  books  and  clippings  accumulate 
in  piles  or  lie  about  in  disorder,  and  in  his  study  or 
library  he  was  always  to  be  found  during  "  work  hours." 
When  the  Columbia  Street  house  was  vacated  many  of 
the  treasures  were  taken  to  Peekskill. 

Before  Mr.  Beecher's  illness  and  death,  the   Rev.  Dr. 


444      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Almon  Gunnison,  pastor  of  All  Souls'  Universalist 
Church,  Brooklyn,  gives  the  following  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  Plymouth  pastor's  library  and  methods  of 
work  : 

"  Mr.  Beecher  early  in  his  career  confronted  the  ques- 
tion whether  he  should  cultivate  a  mere  literary  fastidi- 
ousness, surrender  himself  to  the  delights  of  a  literary 
career,  and  so  leave  behind  works  that  should  stand  the 
wear  and  tear  of  time,  or  should  secure  present  influence 
at  the  risk,  perhaps,  of  an  ultimate  decadence  of  his 
literary  fame.  Born  as  he  was,  in  an  age  when  great  re- 
forms clamored  for  advocates,  it  could  not  be  possible 
that  a  man  of  his  intense  sympathy  for  humanity  could 
be  content  with  a  mere  intellectual  dilettanteism  ;  the 
work  of  to-day  was  enough,  and  he  cared  little  for  post- 
humous fame.  Still,  the  homage  of  an  intensely  active 
intellect  has  never  ceased  to  crave  food,  and  the  books 
have  chased  one  another  into  his  house,  until  in  the  old 
home  from  which  he  only  recently  went  out  they  over- 
flowed room  after  room,  taking  possession  of  dining-room 
and  bedroom,  attic  and  closet. 

"  I  had  the  pleasure,  not  long  before  the  breaking  up  of 
Mr.  Beccher's  old  home,  of  examining  under  the  genial 
guidance  of  its  owner  the  library  of  the  famous  preacher, 
and  of  gathering  from  his  own  lips  many  facts  concerning 
his  literary  habits.  His  library  comprises  perhaps  six 
thousand  volumes.  It  is  miscellaneous  in  character,  and 


HOME-LIFE.  445 

without  special  precision  of  arrangement.  It  lacks  the 
completeness  of  a  collection,  but  covers  with  reasonable 
fulness  almost  every  department  of  thought.  The  relig- 
ious department,  of  course,  predominates,  the  varied 
phases  of  modern  religious  thought  being  especially  full. 
Physiological  books  are  numerous,  while  law,  science, 
philosophy,  history,  and  political  economy  are  represented 
largely  upon  the  shelves.  The  intellectual  hospitality  of 
Mr.  Beecher's  mind  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  on  contro- 
verted topics  both  sides  are  almost  equally  well  repre- 
sented. One  looks  in  vain  to  find  in  the  telltale  books 
the  evidence  of  partisanship  on  the  part  of  their  owner. 
English  literature  is  largely  represented,  each  period  of 
literary  development  having  its  masterpieces,  while  the 
curiosities  of  literature,  old  ballads,  myths,  legends,  folk- 
lore, poetry,  the  old  moralists,  humorists,  quaint  writers 
— all  are  here  in  this  cosmopolitan  collection. 

The  intense  love  of  Mr.  Beecher  for  living  things — ani- 
mals, plants,  fishes,  and  especially  birds — would  be  noticed 
by  the  casual  visitor,  even  if  he  were  without  previous 
knowledge  of  his  tastes  in  these  directions.  "  Everything 
that  has  life,"  he  quaintly  remarked,  "  is  related  to  me. 
I  am  its  Dutch  uncle."  The  books  on  fishes  and  birds 
were  everywhere;  crowded  in  among  the  mustiest  folios 
of  the  Fathers  were  books  curiously  illuminated,  describ- 
ing the  habits  of  the  birds,  while  the  flowers  and  ferns, 
trees  and  fruit,  kept  company  with  the  dreariest  quartos 
'9 


446      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

and  the  moth-eaten  relics  of  mediaeval  days.  It  is  well 
known  that  in  the  earlier  years  of  Mr.  Beecher's  ministry 
he  was  an  enthusiast  in  botanical  studies,  doing  some  of 
his  earliest  writing  on  the  subject  of  floral  culture.  His 
love  of  flowers  is  proverbial,  and  it  will  be  interesting  to 
know,  from  the  evidence  given  by  his  books,  that  the  love 
of  his  youth  had  not  passed  away,  for  side  by  side  with 
the  old  floral  books  of  his  earlier  life  are  the  recent  pub- 
lications of  the  press  telling  the  story  of  the  flowers. 

The  library  is  especially  rich  in  the  literature  of  art, 
and  the  number  of  illustrated  books  is  very  large.  Choice 
editions  of  Hogarth's  works ;  the  very  rare  "  Holy  Land," 
by  Roberts,  the  plates  of  which,  by  special  contract,  were 
destroyed  after  the  limited  edition  had  been  printed  ; 
"  Muse'e  Fran£aise  ;"  Foster's  "  British  Gallery; "  a  large 
folio  copy  of  Lodge's  "  Portraits ; "  very  many  sumptuous 
works  on  uncut  India  paper,  with  artists'  proofs;  superb 
works  on  foreign  cathedrals,  and  "  Galerie  de  Florence ; " 
the  "  Beauties  of  the  Court  of  Charles  II. ;"  Mrs.  Jame- 
son's larger  works ;  Ruskin's  works,  bought  as  they  were 
issued,  and  since  become  very  valuable;  Britton's  "  Cathe- 
dral Antiquities ; "  the  "  National  Portrait  Gallery ; "  Dug- 
dale's  "  Monasticon,"  whose  possession  Mr.  Beecher  said 
made  him  feel  so  proud  that  he  couldn't  speak  to  an  old 
acquaintance  for  a  week  ;  Alderman  Boydell's  great  book 
on  the  character  of  Shakespeare,  published  in  1795,  illus- 
trated by  Kirk,  William  Hamilton,  Smirke,  and  other 


HOME-LIFE.  447 

great  artists.  These  are  samples  of  the  very  large  num- 
ber of  works  of  a  similar  class. 

All  the  great  standard  histories  of  the  life  of  Christ  are 
in  the  collection — French,  German,  and  English  ;  mono- 
graphs in  every  tongue ;  periods,  phases  of  his  life,  any- 
thing and  everything  that  could  help  solve  the  mystery 
of  the  Lord's  life  had  an  honored  place.  The  favorite 
divines  of  the  great  preacher,  South,  Berkeley,  Barrow, 
Butler,  and  others,  are  in  silent  fellowship  with  the  poets 
most  esteemed.  The  great  preacher  called  our  attention 
to  a  well-worn  compilation  of  the  early  English  poets, 
Drummond,  Giles,  Fletcher,  and  Daniell,  which  seemed 
to  have  been  his  life-companion.  Turning  to  Daniell's 
poem,  "  To  Lady  Margaret,"  he  read  it  aloud  with  in- 
comparable elocutionary  skill,  bringing  out,  with  delicate 
modulation,  its  finer  poetic  and  literary  grace. 

In  looking  over  the  library  of  Mr.  Beecher,  one  could 
easily  imagine  that  he  had  determined,  like  Bacon,  to 
"take  all  knowledge  for  his  province."  A  young  lawyer 
could  from  his  shelves  select  a  law  library  of  reasonable 
completeness ;  the  young  medical  graduate  would  feel 
rich  with  the  professional  outfit  he  might  obtain,  and  the 
student  in  science,  philosophy,  natural  history,  botany, 
fishes,  buds,  and  insects  would  revel  here.  The  key  to 
the  vast  fund  of  illustration  possessed  by  Mr.  Beecher  is 
found  by  even  a  cursory  glance  at  this  strangely  diversi- 
fied collection.  His  intense  sympathy  with  every  form 


448      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

of  life,  his  quick,  almost  poetic,  appreciation  of  the 
beauty  of  the  outward  world,  his  intuitive  sense  of 
humor,  have  found  nutriment  in  these  books,  with  which 
he  has  been  in  life-long  communion.  He  candidly  con- 
fesses his  indebtedness  to  Crabbe  for  his  anatomical,  and 
to  Ruskin  for  his  poetic,  observation  of  nature.  Mr. 
Beecher  has  never  been  in  any  sense  a  collector. 

Though  a  man  of  hobbies,  he  has  rarely  had  any  of  the 
bibliographical  crazes  that  have  unsettled  so  many  men 
of  literary  promise.  Perhaps  the  nearest  he  has  ever  come 
to  the  dangerous  amusement  of  collecting  has  been  in  the 
direction  of  art.  The  old  house  was  heavily  freighted 
with  the  fruit  of  his  art  saunterings.  Walls,  drawers, 
cases,  portfolios,  were  loaded  with  copies  of  the  great 
works  of  European  galleries — original  paintings,  engrav- 
ings, etchings  of  rare  skill  and  beauty,  though  not  in 
many  cases  of  great  cost.  The  veteran  preacher  is  a  con- 
noisseur of  no  mean  skill.  His  crude  taste  in  the  earlier 
years  of  his  ministry  in  Brooklyn  was  trained  greatly  by 
the  influence  of  one  Emile  Seitz,  a  dealer  in  New  York, 
whose  friendly  offices  as  instructor  he  gratefully  remem- 
bers. It  was  his  custom  to  visit  the  store  of  this  man, 
where  he  always  received  cordial  welcome,  his  growing 
taste  being  aided  much  by  the  genial  merchant's  suggest- 
ive criticism. 

Like  all  great  workers,  Mr.  Beecher  has  found  recrea- 
tion in  studies  outside  his  regular  and  perhaps  legitimate 


HOME-LIFE.  449 

field.  At  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  in  Indiana,  as 
already  intimated,  his  passion  was  horticulture,  and  he 
found  rest  and  refreshment  in  his  studies  of  flowers  and 
fruit,  his  earliest  work  as  an  editor  being  done  for  the 
columns  of  an  agricultural  paper.  Another  singular  fact 
which  has  been  but  seldom  noticed  by  the  press  is  his 
peculiar  love  of  gems.  He  delights  in  finely  polished 
stones,  finding  rest,  when  weary,  in  looking  at  these 
things.  During  his  memorable  war  addresses  in  Eng- 
land, when  beset  on  every  side,  with  every  faculty  strained 
to  its  utmost  tension,  he  found  peculiar  usefulness  in  two 
rich  opals  which  had  been  loaned  him  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  selection,  by  a  Glasgow  jeweller.  In  the  days 
of  his  more  active  ministry  he  used  to  have  a  little  box 
filled  with  unmounted  brilliants  of  every  kind,  and  when 
at  his  work  he  felt  the  need  of  some  calming  influence, 
he  was  wont  to  spread  his  treasures  before  him,  and  in 
their  eternal  fires  find  calm  and  rest.  He  used  laugh- 
ingly to  deride  this  strange  love  as  a  peculiar  and  sense- 
less whim,  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  trace  its  origin  to  his 
peculiarly  sensitive  love  of  beauty,  which  finds  satisfac- 
tion in  that  which  of  all  things  beautiful  has  most  of 
beauty. 

Among  other  singular  hobbies  is  a  love  of  rugs.  The 
old  house  used  to  be  filled  with  them.  Of  every  nation- 
ality, hue,  and  fabric,  covering  rooms  and  halls,  matching 
ill  or  well  the  other  colors  as  chance  might  be,  but  giv- 


450      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

ing  an  air  of  most  leisurely  abandon  and  cosey  comfort. 
Few  people  suspect  that  the  great  preacher  is  an  expert 
in  soaps,  but  such  is  the  case,  and  the  scent  of  the  soap- 
boiler's kettle  is  as  the  odors  of  Araby  to  him.  Toilet 
articles,  the  mysteries  of  the  perfumer's  distillations,  all  to 
him  are  as  an  open  book,  and  the  literature  of  the  toilet, 
ancient  and  modern,  is  as  familiar,  and  probably  quite  as 
interesting,  to  him  as  the  decisions  of  the  Council  of 
Trent  or  the  somnolent  platitudes  of  the  gnostic  heresies. 
One  of  his  last  hobbies  was  for  pottery,  though  he  did 
not  go  very  deeply  into  it,  owing  to  the  great  pressure 
upon  his  time.  Unlike  most  men,  Mr.  Beecher  rarely 
outgrew  his  old  loves.  The  new  hobby  is  added  to  the 
others,  but  it  does  not  displace  them  ;  as  he  quaintly  puts 
it,  "  his  recreations  are  like  an  irrigating  stream,  to  be  cut 
off  in  one  direction,  for  a  time,  that  it  may  be  turned  on 
in  another." 

The  consideration  of  Mr.  Beecher's  literary  workshop 
makes  appropriate  a  word  or  two  as  to  the  methods  of 
the  worker.  In  a  large  sense  he  is  a  law  unto  himself, 
and  his  method  is  strangely  methodless.  "  It  would," 
he  says,  "  ruin  any  other  man,  and  if  what  the  news- 
papers say  is  true,  it  has  ruined  me."  When  engaged  in 
more  careful  editorial  work,  or  the  task  of  authorship,  he 
reads  exhaustively,  yet  makes  but  few  notes,  filling  him- 
self full,  and  then  when  the  mood  comes  writing  with 
tremendous  speed.  His  creative  energy  works  pictori- 


HOME-LIFE.  45 1 

ally.  Even  an  argument  lies  in  his  mind  as  a  picture. 
As  illustrative,  he  instanced  the  Sea  of  Galilee  in  his 
"  Life  of  Christ."  He  wishes  at  some  time  in  the  prog- 
ress of  his  work  to  describe  it.  Slowly  and  carefully  he 
studies  its  topography,  and  all  the  elements  which  enter 
into  an  accurate  representation,  works  his  way  along  its 
shores  and  over  the  adjacent  hills,  goes  down  the  val- 
ley of  the  Jordan  and  studies  the  topography  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  and  then  begins  to  make  the  picture  in  his 
mind,  adding  here  a  color,  changing  there  a  line,  until 
slowly  the  whole  scene,  in  all  its  varied  colors,  paints  it- 
self in  the  vividness  of  life  upon  his  mind.  Thus,  when 
in  the  progress  of  his  work  he  comes  to  this,  he  has  but 
to  throw  the  picture  upon  the  page,  as  the  exhibitor 
takes  the  picture  he  desires  from  the  box,  puts  it  before 
his  lantern,  and  throws  its  every  line  upon  the  screen. 

One  of  the  most  famous  of  American  literary  men,  a 
friend  and  associate  of  Mr.  Beecher,  once  told  the  writer 
that  the  great  preacher  was  excelled  in  the  richness  of  his 
vocabulary  by  no  writer  since  the  days  of  Shakespeare, 
and  that  a  careful  criticism  of  his  writings  would  con- 
firm that  fact.  This  illustration  of  his  intellectual  fecun- 
dity was  also  narrated  :  In  the  "  Life  of  Christ,"  the 
printers  allowed  first  corrections  without  charge,  but 
subsequent  changes  were  taxable.  The  publishers  paid 
$1,500  for  such  improvements,  the  fertile  mind  of  the 
author  constantly  suggesting  new  settings  to  his  thought. 


452      LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

The  sermon-making  process  is  somewhat  in  defiance  of 
accepted  methods.  In  his  vest-pocket  he  carries  con- 
stantly a  tiny  book  in  which  thoughts,  impressions,  and 
sermon-germs  find  place.  It  is  a  kind  of  literary  scrap- 
bag,  in  which  hints  for  sermons  and  editorials  lie  in  sweet 
contiguity  with  anecdotes,  addresses  of  friends,  financial 
and  other  memoranda.  These  things  are  plant-germs, 
points  of  crystallization,  and  from  every  side  they  begin 
to  draw  material.  The  picture  forms  rapidly  within  his 
mind,  the  outlines  of  it  are  crudely  indicated  in  his  notes, 
and  the  inspiration  of  the  moment,  when  with  his  audi- 
ence before  him  his  speech  is  set  free,  supplies  the  rest. 

As  an  author,  Mr.  Beecher  may  by  the  number  of  his 
works  published  justly  rank  among  the  most  prolific 
writers.  He  is  the  literary  father  of  thirty-five  volumes, 
and  if  the  writings  published  without  his  sanction  should 
be  added  to  the  list,  the  number  would  increase  to  over 
fifty.  The  stress  of  his  times,  his  intense  sympathy  with 
the  living  questions  of  the  hour,  have  been,  perhaps,  an 
inevitable  hinderance  to  literary  finish  and  completeness. 
His  work  has  been  largely  fragmentary,  yet  he  cherishes 
the  hope,  not  without  reason,  that  some  of  his  sermons 
which  have  touched  the  unchanging  spiritual  needs  of 
men  may  have  a  permanence  beyond  his  own  personal 
life  and  fame.  He  feels  that  he  has  taught  the  young 
clergy  to  find  God  not  alone  in  the  Record,  but  in  the 
contemporaneous  history  of  to-day,  and  that  somewhat 


HOME-LIFE.  453 

through  his  work  the  imminent  presence  of  the  living 
God  may  be  seen  and  felt.  The  variety  of  his  writings, 
his  mental  vigor  and  originality,  his  unquestioned  spirit- 
ual vision,  together  with  his  complete  command  of  all  the 
resources  of  the  English  language,  cannot  fail  to  give  him 
a  lasting  place  among  the  foremost  literary  workers  of 
this  period  of  American  history. 

Of  his  literary  tastes  Mr.  Beecher  has  himself  given  an 
idea : 

"  I  read  for  three  things ;  first  to  know  what  the  world 
has  done  in  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  and  is  about  to 
do  to-day;  second,  for  the  knowledge  which  I  especially 
want  to  use  in  my  work ;  and  thirdly,  for  what  will  bring 
my  mind  into  a  proper  mood.  Among  the  authors 
which  I  frequently  read  are  De  Tocqueville,  Matthew 
Arnold,  Madame  Guyon,  and  Thomas  a  Kempis.  I 
gather  my  knowledge  of  current  thought  from  books  and 
periodicals  and  from  conversation  with  men,  from  whom 
I  get  much  that  cannot  be  learned  in  any  other  way.  I 
am  a  very  slow  reader.  I  never  read  for  style.  I  should 
urge  reading  history.  My  study  of  Milton  has  given  me 
a  conception  of  power  and  vigor  which  I  otherwise 
should  not  have  had.  I  got  fluency  out  of  Burke  very 
largely,  and  I  obtained  the  sense  of  abjectives  out  of 

Barrow,  besides  the  sense  of  exhaustiveness." 
19* 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  HIS  FRIENDS. 

Rev.  C.  E.  Babb.— Early  Days  in  the  West— The  "Pepper-Box" 
Church. — Comparative  Obscurity  until  Thirty-five  Years  Old. — 
Judge  Tourgee's  Meeting  in  Boyhood. — Sam  Payne's  Experiences. — 
Captain  W.  L.  Watson.  —  Mr.  Beecher  as  Chaplain. — "Our  Boys." 
— Nelson  Sizer. —  Mr.  Beecher's  Phrenological  Development. —  His 
Friendship  for  his  Old  School-mate. — Dr.  Spurzheim. — Dr.  E.  E. 
Marcy. — College  Days. — Rev.  S.  Giffard  Nelson. — Plymouth  Bethel. 
— General  Horatio  C.  King. — Mr.  Beecher's  Ideas  about  Church 
Music. —  Theatre-going. —  Private  Theatricals. — Soldiers'  Home  at 
Leavenworth,  Kan. — Professor  R.  W.  Raymond. — Mr.  Beecher  as  a 
Lapidary. — Mr.  Thomas  G.  Shearman. — Mr.  Beecher's  Charity. — His 
Sympathetic  and  Sensitive  Nature. — Mrs.  Sarah  Cole. — A  Reminis- 
cence of  Mr.  Beecher's  First  Sermon  in  Brooklyn. — Allan  Forman. — 
Mr.  Beecher  plays  Marbles  with  the  Boys. 

REV.  C.  E.  BABB,  who  succeeded  to  the  pastorate  of 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Indianapolis  when 
Mr.  Beecher  was  called  to  the  Plymouth  Church  pulpit, 
furnishes  some  interesting  personal  reminiscences.  He 
relates  that  at  Lawrenceburg  Mr.  Beecher  preached  in  a 
church  of  about  fifty  members,  in  a  building  the  seating 
capacity  of  which  was  not  over  one  hundred  and  fifty, 
and  he  and  his  young  wife  lived  part  of  the  time,  at 
least,  in  rooms  over  a  store.  In  September,  1839,  fifteen 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   HIS   FRIENDS.     455 

persons  seceded  from  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Indianapolis,  on  account  of  their  new-school  proclivities, 
and  formed  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  There 
were  no  public  halls  in  the  young  city  then,  so  this  little 
band  met  in  an  upper  room  of  the  county  seminary — a 
room  into  which  a  hundred  people  could  not  have  been 
crowded.  Here  Mr.  Beecher  preached  for  a  year,  during 
which  time  his  congregation  built  a  wooden  church  that 
would  hold  almost  four  hundred  people.  It  had  such  a 
curious  little  cupola  that  it  was  popularly  known  as 
"  The  Pepper-box  Church."  In  this  church  Mr.  Beecher 
preached  until  September,  1847,  when  he  went  to  Brook- 
lyn. All  this  time  his  salary  never  exceeded  $800  per 
year.  During  the  last  two  years,  four  wealthy  parish- 
ioners added  $50  each  as  a  private  donation,  and  thought 
they  were  dealing  very  liberally  with  their  preacher. 
Indianapolis  at  that  time  was  an  inland  town  with  less 
than  five  thousand  inhabitants.  It  was  distant  two  days 
by  "  mud  wagon  "  from  Cincinnati,  and  its  only  attrac- 
tion was  that  it  was  the  capital  of  Hoosierdom.  It  is  a 
noteworthy  coincidence  that  the  first  railroad  in  Indi- 
ana— the  Madison  &  Indianapolis — was  opened  on  the 
very  day  that  Mr.  Beecher  left  for  his  new  home  in 
Brooklyn.  As  he  stood  on  the  depot  platform  and  saw 
the  crowds  gathering  to  the  celebration,  he  said  :  "  I  had 
no  idea  that  I  was  so  popular.  Why,  the  whole  country 
is  here  to  see  me  off." 


456      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

During  Mr.  Beecher's  eight  years'  pastorate  in  Indian- 
apolis he  took  quite  as  much  interest  in  horticulture  as 
in  theology.  He  had  a  large  garden  of  several  acres  in 
the  suburbs,  and  cultivated  it  with  his  own  hands.  He 
spent  a  great  deal  more  time  in  it  than  in  his  study. 
He  was  very  proud  of  his  skill  in  raising  vegetables,  and 
would  load  a  wheelbarrow  with  pie-plant,  which  was  one 
of  his  specialties,  and  trundle  it  down  to  the  market  and 
sell  it  himself,  cracking  jokes  with  his  customers  that 
drew  a  large  crowd  around  him.  He  was  always  indif- 
ferent to  appearances. 

Small  as  Mr.  Beecher's  church  was,  it  was  never 
crowded,  except  when  he  roused  himself  and  announced 
some  special  subject  or  course  of  lectures.  This  he 
would  generally  do  when  the  Legislature  was  in  session. 
But  ordinarily  he  would  read  a  sermon  to  a  congregation 
of  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred,  and 
very  few  of  his  regular  hearers  dreamed  that  they  were 
listening  to  the  foremost  pulpit  orator  of  the  age.  One 
Sunday,  in  Brooklyn,  a  lawyer  who  had  been  one  of  his 
elders  while  he  was  in  Indianapolis  went  to  hear  him. 
As  he  came  out,  the  lawyer  said  :  "  I  heard  that  very 
sermon  in  our  church  at  home  four  years  ago.  We  all 
thought  it  a  good  sermon,  but  had  no  idea  that  it  was  a 
great  one.  Such  is  the  difference  between  preaching  to 
three  hundred  people  and  to  three  thousand." 

When  Mr.   Beecher   left  Indianapolis    his    church  of 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS  OF  HIS   FRIENDS.     457 

fifteen  members  had  increased  to  two  hundred  and  fifty. 
This  was  the  result  of  the  growth  of  the  city  and  of  sev- 
eral old-fashioned  revivals.  Mr.  Beecher's  father  was  a 
noted  revivalist,  and  impressed  upon  him  that  this  was  the 
normal  way  of  building  up  the  church.  "  To  illustrate 
the  personal  magnetism  of  the  man,"  said  Mr.  Babb,  "  I 
went  one  day,  six  months  after  he  left,  with  an  elder  of 
the  church,  to  hunt  up  the  stray  sheep  of  the  flock.  We 
found  a  woman  at  the  wash-tub  in  the  suburbs.  The 

elder  said  to  her  :    'Mrs.  M ,  I  believe  you  are  a 

member  of  our  church,  but  I  don't  see  you  there  very 
often.'  The  Hoosier  dame  replied  :  '  Well,  I'll  tell  you 
just  how  it  is.  I  heard  they  had  a  big  meetin'  down  to 
Beecher's.  The  neighbors  was  going  ;  I  went  with  them. 
I  liked  Beecher  and  I  j'ined  Beecher.  But  now  he's  gone 
away,  and  I  don't  know  who  I  belong  to.' " 

Mr.  Beecher  was  never  very  ministerial  in  his  deport- 
ment. He  did  a  great  many  things  that  severely  tried 
the  patience  and  charity  of  the  most  pious  people  in  his 
church.  And  yet  he  was  so  frank  and  genial,  and  at 
times  so  spiritual  in  his  preaching,  that  they  could  not 
help  loving  him.  There  was  one  venerable  mother  in 
Israel  who  used  to  tell  a  great  deal  about  him,  but  she 
would  always  wind  up  in  some  such  words  as  these  : 
"  Henry  did  a  great  many  things  that  troubled  me,  but, 
after  all,  I  cannot  help  believing  that  Henry  was  a  good 
man." 


458      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

When  Mr.  Beecher  went  to  New  York,  in  May,  1847, 
on  the  invitation  of  the  American  Tract  Society  to  speak 
at  its  anniversary,  he  was  hardly  known  in  the  East.  A 
few  people  had  seen  the  little  volume  of  sermons  to 
young  men,  which  was  the  first  book  he  ever  published, 
and  knew  that  he  had  a  certain  kind  of  power ;  but  he 
had  no  reputation  as  an  orator.  In  the  old  Broadway 
Tabernacle  that  day,  while  all  the  ministers  had  white 
cravats,  he  wore  a  black  bombazine  stock,  and  that  stock 
had  got  twisted  around  so  that  the  buckle  was  under  one 
ear  and  in  plain  sight,  while  his  clothes  were  rusty  and 
ill-fitting.  Many  thought  that  some  farmer  from  the 
country  had  got  by  mistake  upon  the  platform.  When 
the  chairman  announced,  "  The  next  speaker  is  Rev. 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  of  Indianapolis,"  he  stepped  to  the 
front  and  said  :  "  I  am  going  to  tell  you  something  about 
the  devil's  colporteurs.  I  have  been  watching  them  for 
years  on  the  Western  steamboats.  I  can  go  among  them 
as  you,  brethren,  could  not ;  for  you  see  that  nobody 
would  ever  suspect  me  of  being  a  preacher;  "  and  the  vast 
audience  looked  at  that  rusty  suit  and  at  that  bombazine 
stock,  and  laughed  and  laughed  again.  That  opening 
sentence  established  his  reputation,  and  he  held  his  au- 
diences spellbound  from  that  time  on.  The  Taberna- 
cle would  be  crowded  whenever  he  was  announced  to 
speak. 

There  is  a   striking  contrast  between   Mr.   Beecher's 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF   HIS  FRIENDS.     459 

earlier  and  his  later  ministry.  Being  the  son  of  so  emi- 
nent a  preacher,  and  himself  so  highly  gifted,  his  com- 
parative obscurity  until  he  was  thirty-five  years  old  is 
remarkable.  But  no  doubt  in  that  garden  at  Indian- 
apolis he  secured  the  vigorous  health  which  made  him 
such  a  marvel  of  physical  energy  and  endurance  in  his 
later  years. 

Judge  Tourg^e  relates  the  following  story  about  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  and  a  clever  amateur  newspaper  reporter  : 
"  Mr.  Beecher  and  I  were  stopping  at  the  Kennard  House, 
in  Cleveland.  The  Plymouth  pastor  was  to  preach  in  the 
city  that  night.  He  chanced  to  have  a  room  right  across 
the  hall  from  me.  Sam  Payne  was  a  reporter  on  the 
Cleveland  Press.  He  was  a  green-looking  country  boy 
who  hadn't  been  on  the  paper  long,  and  about  as  rough 
and  uncouth  a  citizen  as  you  could  well  find.  Sam  went 
up  to  interview  Beecher.  My  door  was  partly  open,  and 
I  saw  him  go  up  to  Beecher's  door  and  knock.  When 
the  reverend  gentleman  opened  the  door  Payne  presented 
his  card.  Henry  Ward  glanced  at  it,  and  said,  queru- 
lously :  '  No,  I  can't  be  interviewed.  I  am  tired  and 
busy,  and  can't  be  annoyed  with  any  interviewing.'  The 
reporter  looked  at  him  a  moment  and  replied  with  dig- 
nity :  '  Well,  Mr.  Beecher,  I  didn't  want  to  interview 
you.  I  heard  that  you  were  in  town,  and  knew  that  you 
would  feel  hurt  if  a  gentleman  of  my  prominence  didn't 
call  as  a  matter  of  courtesy.'  Then,  with  an  elaborate 


460      LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

bow,  he  walked  away.  Beecher  didn't  say  a  word,  but 
stood  and  watched  him  until  he  went  out  of  sight." 

Judge  Tourgee  also  narrates  how  he  met  Mr.  Beecher 
when  he  was  a  boy  in  the  Berkshire  Hills,  when  he  had 
lost  his  way.  The  only  way  out  of  his  predicament  was 
to  go  to  some  of  the  houses  in  sight  in  the  valley,  inquire 
his  way  home,  and  sneak  back  ignobly  and  shamefacedly 
along  the  highway. 

As  he  was  about  to  take  this  course  he  heard  someone 
clambering  along  the  rough  pathway  at  the  foot  of  the 
ledge,  nigh  a  hundred  feet  below  him.  Screened  by  the 
thick  laurels,  he  watched  the  new-comer's  advance,  him- 
self undiscovered.  He  knew  Mr.  Beecher  by  sight,  and 
knew  where  the  country  house  which  was  then  his  haven 
of  rest  was  situated.  He  recognized  at  a  glance  the 
flushed  face  and  stalwart  figure,  then  in  the  prime  of 
manly  strength.  His  brow  was  covered  with  perspira- 
tion, for,  besides  the  rough  walk  he  had  taken,  he  was 
burdened  with  an  armful  of  trophies  he  had  gathered  on 
the  way.  Just  at  the  point  of  the  cliff  a  clear  spring  bub- 
bled out  from  under  a  gray,  mossy  rock.  He  threw  his 
variegated  armful  down,  tossed  off  his  soft  hat,  and  lying 
prone  upon  the  ground,  quenched  his  thirst.  Then  he 
stood  up,  threw  back  his  long  hair,  wiped  his  brow,  gazed 
at  the  prospect  that  lay  outspread  at  his  feet,  sat  down 
upon  a  spur  of  the  rock,  and  picked  up  one  by  one  the 
leaves  and  flowers  he  had  gathered.  Then  he  sat  for  a 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS  OF   HIS   FRIENDS.     461 

long  time,  silent  and  unmoving,  looking  down  into  the 
quiet  valley  and  off  at  the  hazy  hills  beyond.  The  boy 
had  overcome  his  shyness,  and  was  about  to  descend  and 
inquire  his  way  homeward,  when  he  heard  the  soft  full 
tones  which  stole  with  such  insensible  power  into  every 
ear.  Looking  down,  he  saw  his  companion  in  the  lumi- 
nous solitude  kneeling  in  the  midst  of  the  painted  leaves 
he  had  scattered  on  the  dun  rock,  the  bright  autumn 
sunshine  lighting  up  the  warm  brown  hair  and  touching 
with  unwonted  radiance  the  soft  lines  of  his  placid  face 
as  he  prayed — alone — upon  the  mountain,  with  no 
thought  that  anyone  but  God  could  hear. 

The  boy  listened  in  amazement.  He  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  prayer.  The  family  altar  was  an  almost  uni- 
versal institution  then.  Prayer  as  an  act  of  duty;  prayer 
as  a  religious  rite;  prayer  as  a  religious  service — all  these 
were  familiar  things  to  his  consciousness.  He  even  had 
his  own  ideas  about  prayer,  and  when  he  felt  that  he  had 
been  exceptionally  bad  or  had  a  desire  to  be  exceptionally 
good  he  had  sometimes  tried  praying  on  his  own  ac- 
count, over  and  above  his  share  in  the  evening  and 
morning  devotions.  He  regarded  it  as  a  pretty  serious 
business,  however,  a  thing  that  needed  to  be  done  and 
ought  by  no  means  to  be  neglected,  and  which,  if  per- 
severed in,  brought  at  length  a  sort  of  fervid  rapture  which 
carried  the  worshipper  into  a  mystic  realm  of  supernatural 
bliss.  But  such  a  prayer  as  this  he  had  never  heard  be- 


462      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

fore — indeed,  he  has  never  heard  such  another  since.  A 
calm,  tender,  quivering  rhapsody  of  thankfulness  that 
God  had  made  the  earth  so  beautiful.-  A  burst  of  grati- 
tude for  mountain  and  valley,  river  and  spring,  rock  and 
brake,  sunshine  and  shadow,  tinted  leaf  and  whirring 
pheasant — everything  that  had  gladdened  the  eye  or 
charmed  the  sense  during  the  autumnal  stroll. 

"  I  have  no  idea  how  long  he  prayed,"  says  the  judge. 
"  For  the  first  time  I  thought  a  prayer  too  short.  I  wished 
that  he  might  keep  on  forever.  I  had  some  curious 
fancies  during  its  continuance.  Perhaps,  as  I  looked  at 
his  glowing  face  and  saw  his  dewy,  luminous  eyes  as  it 
concluded,  I  may  be  pardoned  if  I  thought  of  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration.  I  trust  there  was  no  sacrilege  in  it. 
After  a  while  I  stole  down  and  timidly  asked  my  way 
home.  I  felt  ashamed  of  having  been  an  eavesdropper  on 
his  devotions.  He  evidently  noted  it,  and  to  put  me  at 
my  ease  asked  me  if  I  did  not  think  it  was  "  a  pretty 
cradle  God  had  made  for  his  children."  He  walked 
nearly  a  mile  with  me  away  from  his  house,  which  must 
have  been  three  or  four  miles  from  our  starting-point,  to 
make  sure  that  I  did  not  lose  my  way.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber anything  he  said,  but  I  walked  all  the  way  home  in  a 
sort  of  delicious  dream,  full  of  strange,  vague  aspirations 
and  sweet,  tender  recollections.  Somehow  I  came  to  see 
more  in  nature  afterward  than  I  had  ever  done  before, 
and  I  have  never  ceased  to  be  grateful  that  1  heard  this 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF   HIS  FRIENDS.     463 

prayer  in  the  mountain  oratory.  My  relations  with  him 
were  not  close  enough  to  justify  recalling  the  incident  to 
his  memory,  and  I  suppose  he  died  quite  unconscious  of 
the  identity  of  the  uncouth  lad  whom  he  that  day  initi- 
ated, not  so  much  into  nature's  mysteries,  for  I  was  no 
mean  woodman  even  then,  but  into  their  mystical  rela- 
tion to  God  the  giver  and  man  the  happy  recipient.  It 
is  probable  he  had  long  since  forgotten  the  trivial  inci- 
dent, but  for  the  sweet  lesson,  in  common  with  many 
thousands,  I  still  remain  his  grateful  debtor." 

Captain  W.  L.  Watson,  Company  E,  Thirteenth  Regi- 
ment, N.  G.  S.  N.  Y.  (of  which  since  February,  1878, 
Mr.  Beecher  was  chaplain,  that  company  being  principally 
organized  through  his  efforts),  relates  some  pleasant  remi- 
niscences of  Mr.  Beecher  in  connection  with  the  regi- 
ment. 

"  The  furnishing  of  the  company's  room,  which  is  the 
finest  in  Brooklyn,"  said  the  captain,  "  was  defrayed  en- 
tirely by  contributions  from  prominent  members  of  Ply- 
mouth Church,  and  from  the  receipts  of  a  fair  held  under 
Mrs.  Beecher's  auspices.  Mr.  Beecher  never  failed,  on 
any  anniversary  dinner  of  the  company,  to  send  a  com- 
munication to  us  of  good  cheer  and  fellowship.  On  his 
seventieth  birthday  the  company  presented  him  with  a 
chair,  and  he  addressed  a  very  quaint  letter  to  me  ac- 
knowledging the  gift.  He  said  that  he  could  not  enjoy 
the  luxury  of  the  chair  at  present,  but  some  day  he 


464      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

would,  when  old  enough,  do  so  with  pleasant  recollec- 
tions of  the  source  from  whence  it  came.  Whenever  he 
or  Mrs.  Beecher  sent  us  an  invitation,  it  was  always  ad- 
dressed to  '  Our  Boys,'  meaning  the  company.  The  last 
time  the  company  met  Mr.  Beecher  was  at  a  fair  held 
the  latter  part  of  February — just  a  week  before  he  was 
taken  ill — at  Plymouth  Church.  After  he  had  greeted 
us  and  announced  the  fact  that  there  was  plenty  of  ice- 
cream, he  came  up  to  the  table  carrying  a  number  of 
packages  in  his  arms,  and  asked  whether  there  was  any 
young  man  present  who  would  take  the  packages  home 
for  him.  Immediately  several  of  the  men  sprung  for- 
ward, but  Mr.  Beecher,  with  a  merry  twinkle  in  his  eye, 
motioned  them  back,  clutched  the  packages  more  tightly 
in  his  arms,  and  said  :  '  No,  you  won't ;  I  meant  my  home. 
Good-night ! ' " 

Nelson  Sizer,  Professor  of  Mental  Science  in  the 
American  Institute  of  Phrenology,  in  an  interesting 
critical  estimate  of  Mr.  Beecher's  mental  qualities  from  a 
phrenological  point  of  view,  said  : 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  a  genius.  His  faculties 
were  extraordinarily  well  balanced,  and  his  physical  and 
mental  powers  were  prodigious.  His  father  was  brave, 
hardy,  and  earnest;  his  mother  was  a  natural  poet  and 
artist,  and  he  took  his  fine  imagination  from  her,  and  his 
thunder  and  courage  from  his  father.  His  head  was 
twenty-three  inches,  his  body  weighed  over  two  hundred 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  HIS  FRIENDS.  465 

and  twenty  pounds,  and  fed  his  brain  abundantly,  and 
gave  him  his  masterly  talent  for  much  and  easy  work. 
He  had  the  finest  quality  of  brain  of  any  man  in  the 
United  States,  and  knew  how  to  take  care  of  his  body 
and  his  brain. 

When  Dr.  Spurzheim  came  over  from  Europe  to  teach 
the  new  science  of  phrenology  there  was  much  opposition 
to  him,  and  after  his  death  phrenology  was  fiercely  dis- 
cussed and  ridiculed  all  over  the  country.  In  Amherst 
College  it  was  sought  to  demolish  the  science  by  getting 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  to  take  the  negative  side  of  the 
debate  on  the  question,  "  Is  Phrenology  entitled  to  the 
name  of  science  ?  "  But  even  then,  a  young  student,  Mr. 
Beecher  was  not  a  superficial  man,  and  he  resolved  to 
study  up  the  subject.  So  he  sent  to  Boston  by  stage  for 
the  works  of  Spurzheim  and  Combe,  intending  to  post 
himself  from  the  opposition  stand-point,  but  he  found  so 
much  in  the  books  that  he  asked  for  more  time,  and 
finally  got  the  debate  postponed  two  weeks.  Then  he 
delivered  a  speech  in  favor  of  phrenology  that  astonished 
the  college  and  the  town. 

After  the  debate,  young  Beecher  asked  a  class-mate 
named  Fowler  if  he  would  not  like  to  read  his  books  on 
phrenology.  The  young  man  said  he  would,  and  from 
that  time  the  name  Fowler  and  Phrenology  became 
wedded.  Thus  it  was  that  Henry  Ward  Beecher  gave 
to  science  in  America  one  of  its  most  ardent  adherents. 


466      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

Mr.  Beecher's  chief  ability  lay  in  the  discussion  of 
talent,  character,  and  disposition.  In  that  field. his  knowl- 
edge of  phrenology  was  the  key  to  his  power  over  men, 
for  then  he  talked  directly  to  faculty,  and  as  he  went 
"  from  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe,"  men  felt 
touched  in  their  strongest  and  weakest  points,  and  imag- 
gined  that  he  knew  them  through  and  through. 

Mr.  Beecher  once  said  to  the  late  Samuel  R.  Wells : 
"  If  I  were  the  owner  of  an  island,  and  had  all  the  books, 
apparatuses,  and  appliances,  tools  to  cultivate  the  soil, 
manufacture,  cook,  and  carry  on  life's  affairs  in  comfort 
and  refinement,  and  on  some  dark  night  pirates  should 
come  and  burn  my  books,  musical  instruments,  works  of 
art,  furniture,  tools  and  machinery,  and  leave  me  the 
land,  and  the  empty  barns  and  house,  I  should  be,  in 
respect  to  the  successful  carrying  on  of  my  affairs,  in  very 
much  the  same  plight  that  I  should  be  as  a  preacher  if 
phrenology,  and  all  that  it  has  taught  me  of  man,  his 
character,  his  wants  and  his  improvement,  were  blotted 
from  my  mind." 

On  another  occasion  he  said  :  "  All  my  life  long  I  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  using  phrenology  as  that  which 
solves  the  practical  phenomena  of  life.  I  regard  it  as  far 
more  useful,  practical,  and  sensible  than  any  other  system 
of  mental  philosophy  which  has  yet  been  evolved.  Cer- 
tainly, phrenology  has  introduced  mental  philosophy  to 
the  common  people." 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   HIS   FRIENDS.     467 

Dr.  Erastus  E.  Marcy,  a  class-mate  of  Mr.  Beecher  at 
Amherst,  and  one  of  the  Amherst  Alumni  committee  to 
attend  the  funeral,  says  : 

"  I  knew  Mr.  Beecher  intimately  at  college.  He  im- 
pressed me  even  at  college  as  a  man  of  great  ability  and 
remarkable  character.  He  was  some  years  my  senior, 
and  older  than  most  of  his  class-mates,  perhaps.  From 
the  first  he  showed  a  strong  head,  and  a  wonderful  abil- 
ity in  debating  and  arguing  with  and  persuading  over 
the  rest  of  us  to  his  views.  He  took  a  lead,  too,  in 
athletic  sports,  and  was  a  live,  active  fellow  in  every- 
thing he  tried.  He  had  a  warm  heart,  great  generosity 
and  impulsiveness,  humor  and  wit.  He  always  im- 
pressed me  as  a  noble,  large-brained  man,  with  strong 
emotions  and  quick  feelings,  though  incapable  of  doing 
a  meanness  or  a  wrong.  I  think  even  in  college  we 
looked  on  him  as  marked  out  for  a  brilliant  career.  I 
cannot  recall  now  one  of  a  hundred  incidents  in  which  he 
showed  his  generosity  and  force  and  eloquence,  but  there 
were  hundreds  of  them.  We  admired  and  loved  him. 
In  no  bad  sense,  he  was  the  '  popular '  man  of  the  class." 

Rev.  S.  Giffard  Nelson,  the  pastor  of  Trinity  Baptist 
Church,  Brooklyn,  a  former  preacher  at  Plymouth 
Bethel,  says : 

"  My  relations  with  Mr.  Beecher  while  preaching  at 
Plymouth  Bethel  were  of  an  incidental  kind.  Yet  there 
was  inspiration  even  in  meeting  him  now  and  then.  He 


468      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

was  uniformly  kind,  and  gave  me  the  most  valuable  hints 
and  suggestions.  When  I  went  to  Plymouth  Bethel  my 
friends  told  Mr.  Beecher  that  I  was  a  Baptist.  '  I  have 
no  better  friends  in  this  country  than  the  Baptists,'  said 
Mr.  Beecher.  And  to  me  afterward  he  said  :  '  I  like  a 
man  who  holds  fast  to  truth  as  he  sees  it,  but  I  am  done 
with  the  controversy  with  your  folks,  if  I  ever  had  one. 
In  fact,  that  died  with  Fox  and  the  Anabaptists.' 

"  He  understood  that  I  clung  tenaciously  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  my  denomination,  and  in  his  love  of  pleasantry, 
once  when  he  came  down  to  christen  the  '  Bethel  babies,' 
as  they  were  called,  he  turned  to  me  after  the  ceremony 
and  playfully  insisted  that  I  should  let  him  do  the  same 
for  me.  He  thought  me  a  theological  baby,  I  suppose. 

"  I  recall  a  conversation  I  had  with  him  in  his  own 
parlor  before  he  took  his  trip  West  in  1883.  He  then 
spoke  about  Plymouth  Church  and  the  strange  compo- 
sition of  its  membership.  '  I  believe,'  he  said,  '  we  have 
all  denominations  in  Plymouth  Church.  We  have  Con- 
gregationalists,  of  course,  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians, 
Methodists,  Roman  Catholics,  or  those  who  have  been, 
Baptists,  and  I  know  not  what  others.  Some  from  every 
fold.  It  saddens  me  most  of  all  things,'  he  added,  as  he 
had  said  to  so  many,  '  when  I  think  of  what  will  become 
of  Plymouth  Church  after  my  departure.'  He  sat,  as  he 
spoke  (it  was  a  very  warm  day),  in  his  shirt,  trousers,  and 
stockings,  in  the  midst  of  portmanteaus  and  traps  that 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   HIS   FRIENDS.     469 

were  preparing  for  his  journey,  and  that  he  had  had  brought 
into  the  parlor  for  his  convenience,  I  suppose,  and  as  he 
uttered  the  words  he  looked  down  steadily  upon  the  floor, 
and  his  great  eyelids  drooped,  and  the  shades  crept  over 
his  face,  so  eloquent  as  the  interpreter  of  his  emotions." 

General  Horatio  C.  King,  alluding  to  Mr.  Beecher's 
fondness  of  music,  says  : 

His  fondness  of  music  was  a  special  bond  of  sympa- 
thy with  me,  and  with  that  faculty  he  had  of  winning 
friends  to  him  and  making  them  do  his  will  cheerfully  he 
soon  had  me  in  harness  in  the  musical  work.  The  church 
had  just  before  expended  an  unusually  large  sum  for  a 
new  organ — upward  of  thirty  thousand  dollars.  While 
it  was  being  put  together,  Mr.  Beecher  was  as  much  in- 
terested as  a  boy  with  a  new  toy,  now  going  around  the 
workmen,  asking  questions  without  number,  studying 
the  mechanism,  cracking  jokes  on  all  sides,  and  finally 
immortalizing  the  largest  of  the  pipes  of  the  thirty-two- 
foot  diapason  by  crawling  through  it.  He  was  not  so 
large  then  as  in  the  last  few  years  of  his  life,  but  he  was 
big  enough  to  fill  the  great  tube  and  have  a  pretty  hard 
struggle  to  crawl  through.  The  pipe  still  bears  in  lead- 
pencil  an  inscription  of  this  exploit. 

Mr.  Beecher's  constant  lament  was  that  the  then  largest 
church  organ  in  America  should  be  shut  up  all  the  week 
and  heard  only  on  the  Sabbath,  and  then  in  music  ap- 
propriate for  the  Sabbath-day.  So  he  pressed  several  of 


20 


4/0      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

us  into  the  service,  and  instituted  the  series  of  organ  con- 
certs, some  two  hundred  in  number,  which  were  extended 
through  several  years.  They  did  more  to  popularize 
good  organ  music  than  anything  ever  before  done.  A 
nominal  charge  for  admission  was  made.  The  best  or- 
ganists were  secured,  and  many  times  hundreds  were  un- 
able to  gain  entrance  to  the  church.  He  was  a  constant 
attendant  himself,  and  witnessed  with  great  gratification 
that  the  example  was  speedily  followed,  not  only  in  New 
York  and  Brooklyn,  but  throughout  the  country,  so  that 
organ  recitals  in  churches  of  all  denominations  no  longer 
iexcite  comment.  Although  he  could  not  play  any  in- 
strument, he  had  a  very  good  theoretical  knowledge  of 
the  art,  and  could  read  ordinary  music  with  some  facility. 
His  sermons  abound  in  illustrations  drawn  from  music 
and  musical  instruments,  and  he  never  blundered,  as 
speakers  often  do,  in  their  apt  application. 

His  disregard  of  the  conventionalities  of  dress  and  eti- 
quette were  especially  marked.  If  he  ever  owned  a  dress- 
coat  he  never  brought  it  out,  and  gloves  were  an  abhor- 
rence to  him,  except  as  a  protection  against  the  cold. 
He  was  as  free  from  ostentation  as  the  humblest  mem- 
ber of  his  congregation,  and  yet  an  innate  dignity  pre- 
served him  from  undue  familiarity.  He  was  never  more 
happy  than  in  the  household,  where  he  could  gather  the 
children  about  him,  join  in  their  sports  and  gambols — 
the  most  interested  child  of  them  all. 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   HIS   FRIENDS.     471 

It  was  the  highest  enjoyment  of  the  children  of  larger 
growth  to  inveigle  him  into  a  discussion  and  ingeniously 
leave  him  at  last  to  do  pretty  much  all  the  talking,  when 
he  would  draw  from  his  apparently  unlimited  storehouse 
of  information,  interlarding  his  talk  with  abundant  wit 
and  humor,  of  which  the  supply  seemed  to  be  inexhaust- 
ible. 

In  our  various  plans  for  amusing  the  young  people  we 
were  accustomed  to  get  up  charades,  usually  without 
much  preparation,  and  into  these  crude  performances  he 
entered  with  as  much  zest  as  the  youngest  of  the  auditors. 
If  he  happened  to  be  hit  off  by  some  caricature,  no  one 
enjoyed  it  more  or  laughed  more  heartily  than  he  did. 
His  favorite  position  was  on  the  floor  with  the  children, 
and  his  presence  was  also  an  inspiration  to  the  amateur 
performers,  who  knew  they  had  in  him  a  most  generous 
critic. 

Probably  no  pastor  ever  had  a  more  hearty  corps  of 
workers  than  he  had,  and  whatever  he  desired  done  there 
were  always  plenty  of  willing  hands  to  help.  Little  ac- 
count has  ever  been  made  of  the  almost  innumerable 
benefactions  made  by  means  of  concerts,  fairs,  teas,  read- 
ings, recitations,  and  similar  means  by  which  enjoyment 
was  combined  with  profit.  Thousands  of  hearts  have 
been  made  happy  in  this  way,  and  to  the  young  espe- 
cially, the  church  and  Sunday-school  have  always  been 
made  the  most  delightful  place  outside  of  the  family. 


4/2      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

All  of  this  was  somewhat  of  a  revelation  to  me,  who  had 
always  heard  church-going  and  Sunday-school  attendance 
and  work  held  up  as  a  solemn  duty ;  for  he  made  it  a 
pleasure  and  a  delight. 

He  was  in  all  relations  of  life  truly  great.  His  re- 
markable self-control  surpassed  any  I  have  ever  known. 
He  was  complete  master  of  his  feelings,  and  in  the 
twenty-two  years  of  my  acquaintance  with  him  I  have 
never  seen  him  give  way  to  anger,  though  many  times 
he  has  had  ample  provocation.  His  disposition  was  as 
nearly  perfect  as  it  seems  to  me  possible  to  any  human 
being.  His  forgiving  nature  was  sublime,  and  I  believe 
he  did  not  harbor  any  ill-feeling  even  against  those  who 
had  wronged  him  most. 

Only  the  week  before  his  death  he  entered  with  his 
usual  zeal  into  a  scheme  for  aiding  the  Soldiers'  Home 
at  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  to  secure  a  library,  as  the  Govern- 
ment makes  no  appropriation  for  that  purpose.  The 
Governor,  Colonel  Smith,  had  made  an  earnest  appeal 
for  books  to  keep  the  soldiers  at  the  home  and  away 
from  the  temptations  of  the  neighboring  city.  So  we 
planned  a  concert,  and  Mr.  Beecher  promised  a  good 
notice,  adding  that  he  proposed  to  practise  what  he 
preached  and  would  send  at  least  twenty-five  volumes. 
The  next  day  down  came  two  wheelbarrow-loads  of  ex- 
cellent books  from  his  library,  and  the  congregation  also 
liberally  increased  the  donation." 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   HIS   FRIENDS.     473 

Professor  Rossiter  W.  Raymond,  who  grew  up  under 
Mr.  Beecher's  ministrations,  says :  "  Many  of  his  appli- 
cations of  science  in  the  service  of  religion  have  been 
such  as  to  invite  collaboration  and  assistance  from  me, 
which  I  have  given,  receiving  a  good  deal  more  than  I 
gave.  Mr.  Beecher  used  to  carry  rubies  and  topazes  in 
his  pockets.  He  never  included  diamonds,  as  he  did 
not  like  them.  Some  of  the  stones  belonged  to  him  ; 
some  were  lent.  I  have  known  him  to  sit  for  over  an 
hour  at  a  time  with  his  head  in  his  hands,  simply  looking 
into  the  hearts  of  these  stones.  He  told  me  they  were 
like  flowers  to  him,  only  more  convenient  to  carry. 
Some  of  the  most  magnificent  outbursts  of  Mr.  Beecher's 
eloquence  came  unaware  and  suddenly  in  private  conver- 
sation. His  words  were  squandered  upon  a  few,  when 
they  would  have  electrified  thousands. 

"  Though  he  was  passionately  fond  of  Beethoven's 
music,  he  gave  up  frequenting  the  Philharmonic  concerts 
because  they  exhausted  him  for  his  Sunday  work.  He 
regulated  his  eating  and  sleeping  so  that  they  should 
not  interfere  with  his  work.  He  had  a  most  forgiving 
nature,  and  he  never  spoke  or  wrote  unkindly  of  anyone. 
Once  a  man  behaved  so  badly  to  Mr.  Beecher  that  I  cut 
him  dead.  I  was  angry.  For  years  we  did  not  speak. 
Imagine  what  I  felt  one  day  to  see  Mr.  Beecher  going 
down  the  street  with  him,  arm-in-arm.  '  Well,'  said  I  to 
the  pastor,  '  if  you  can't  cherish  your  own  grudges,  how 


474      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

can  I  cherish  them  for  you.'  He  laughed,  and  told  me 
to  drop  it." 

Thomas  G.  Shearman,  one  of  Mr.  Beecher's  closest 
friends,  and  his  confidential  legal  adviser  in  the  Beecher- 
Tilton  suit,  says  : 

"  The  first  thing  that  struck  me  about  Mr.  Beecher, 
when  I  met  him  thirty-four  years  ago  for  the  first  time, 
was  his  wonderful  simplicity,  his  entire  absence  of  selfish- 
ness. I  was  then  a  poor  boy,  and  was  introduced  to  him 
by  a  young  man  who  was  not  only  poor  himself,  but 
whose  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Beecher  was  very  limited. 
Yet  he  received  me  in  the  same  manner  and  with  as 
much  cordiality  as  if  the  introduction  had  come  from 
one  of  his  closest  friends.  He  chatted  pleasantly  with 
me,  and  when  he  discovered  that  I  sought  his  advice,  al- 
though hundreds  of  people  were  crowding  about  anxious 
to  get  a  word  with  him,  he  did  not  cut  me  short.  He 
listened  patiently,  and  with  apparent  interest,  advised  me 
carefully,  and  left  it  to  me  to  terminate  the  interview. 
All  that  I  have  seen  of  him  since  has  confirmed  my  first 
impression  that  he  was  the  most  sympathetic  and  kind- 
hearted  of  men. 

One  of  his  chief  characteristics  was  his  utter  disregard 
for  rank,  station,  or  wealth.  The  rich  and  poor  were 
alike  to  him,  and  I  may  mention  an  instance  of  this  which 
came  under  my  own  observation.  At  our  Friday  night 
meetings  there  was  one  man  who  spoke  almost  every 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  HIS  FRIENDS.  4/5 

time,  fluently  and  intelligently,  and  with  great  fervor. 
He  was  a  stranger  to  most  of  us,  a  poor  Scotch  pedler,  I 
think,  and  yet  Mr.  Beecher  seemed  to  pay  special  atten- 
tion to  him,  and  asked  him  to  speak  oftener  than  any 
member  of  the  congregation. 

I  often  argued  with  Mr.  Beecher,  and  yet  he  never 
took  offence.  Thoroughly  off-hand,  frank  and  open,  he 
always  spoke  his  mind,  and  yet  was  very  careful  not  to 
hurt  the  feelings  of  others.  This  consideration  for  others 
was,  in  fact,  something  remarkable.  He  was  never  care- 
ful, it  is  true,  of  what  he  said,  but  somehow  escaped 
wounding  anyone  seriously.  His  keen  sense  of  humor 
was  continually  finding  amusement  in  the  mistakes  and 
slips  of  speech  of  speakers  in  the  meetings.  This,  how- 
ever, was  never  perceptible  except  through  the  twinkle 
of  an  eye  or  the  twitching  of  the  lips,  unless  the  con- 
gregation thoroughly  caught  the  point,  and  then  he 
would  give  way  to  the  general  feeling  and  make  some 
sly,  good-natured  comment. 

Many  people  misjudge  him  because  he  never  visited 
the  sick  and  dying.  He  never,  at  least  as  far  as  I  know, 
undertook  any  of  the  technical  pastoral  work.  His  rea- 
sons for  not  doing  it  were  not  generally  understood.  He 
was  easily  affected  by  sorrow,  sickness,  or  death,  and  a 
performance  of  the  technical  duties  of  the  church  would, 
on  account  of  his  over-sympathetic  nature,  have  certain- 
ly overwhelmed  him  and  consumed  his  vital  energies. 


4/6      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Those  who  knew  him  best  were  thoroughly  aware  of 
this,  and  although  I  have  had  several  deaths  in  my 
family,  I  never  asked  him  to  attend  funerals.  His  nat- 
ure was  a  sensitive  one,  and  to  a  certain  extent  he  was 
obliged  to  harden  himself  on  the  outside  or  he  would 
never  have  been  equal  to  his  great  work. 

As  a  preacher  he  was  like  an  air-plant.  His  inspira- 
tion was  drawn,  not  from  books  or  study,  but  from  an 
actual  observance  of  and  contact  with  men.  The  ideas 
he  gathered  thus  he  reproduced  in  dazzling  forms.  He 
judged  that  his  mission  and  duty  as  a  preacher  were  to 
accomplish  the  best  pulpit  work  possible,  and  he  bent 
everything  to  this.  A  great  head  and  a  great  heart,  a 
tender,  sympathetic  nature;  quick  perception,  and  lenient 
judgment — all  these  enabled  him  to  see  gold  in  mankind 
where  others  could  discover  nothing  but  dross.  His  very 
presence  always  struck  me  as  that  of  a,  lion  with  a  big 
heart — having  power  to  smite  to  the  earth,  but  disdain- 
ing to  harm  even  the  weakest." 

An  old  journalist  of  New  York  thus  relates  how  he 
first  saw  Mr.  Beecher  in  1854: 

"  I  was  then  a  boy  setting  type  in  Gray's  printing  office, 
Frankfort  and  Cliff  Streets,  in  this  city.  The  Indepen- 
dent, the  Knickerbocker,  The  Protestant  Churchman,  and 
other  publications  were  printed  there.  Mr.  Beecher  was 
editor  of  The  Independent  at  that  time.  Once  a  week  he 
came  to  the  establishment  to  read  his  proof-sheets.  The 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   HIS   FRIENDS.     4/7 

proof-room  opened  directly  back  of  my  case.  Everything 
said  within  it  was  heard  by  the  boys  at  the  row  of  cases. 
Louis  Gaylord  Clark,  ex-President  Roberts  of  Liberia, 
old  Dr.  Tyng,  and  others  frequently  met  Mr.  Beecher  in 
this  room  and  exchanged  the  latest  stories.  There  were 
no  chestnuts  in  those  days.  Clark  was  excessively  funny. 
His  yarns  were  light  and  trifling,  and  provoked  surface 
laughter.  Beecher's  stories  were  told  with  a  gravity  and 
a  sedateness  that  gathered  all  the  elements  of  humor  in 
narration,  and  launched  the  climax  upon  the  hearer  with 
side-splitting  suddenness.  His  vividness  of  description 
and  terseness  of  phraseology  never  shone  to  better  ad- 
vantage than  when  whiling  away  a  social  hour  in  the 
presence  of  literary  friends. 

"  I  last  saw  Mr.  Beecher  at  the  reception  given  to  David 
Dudley  Field  on  his  eightieth  birthday.  It  was  at  the 
'house  of  his  brother  Cyrus,  near  Gramercy  Park.  The 
parlors  were  filled  with  eminent  men.  Among  them 
were  Roscoe  Conkling,  Jay  Gould,  John  Kelly,  Stephen 
J.  Field,  John  B.  Haskin,  George  H.  Watrous,  and  a 
host  of  lesser  lights.  The  greatest  attractions  were  three 
clergymen.  One  was  Mr.  Beecher,  the  second  was  the 
Rev.  T.  De  Witt  Talmage,  and  the  third  was  Monseign- 
eur  Capel.  Beecher  and  Talmage  were  the  centre  of 
admiring  groups,  while  the  Monseigneur  stood  in  an  an- 
gle of  the  parlor  shaking  hands  with  those  who  had  the 
pleasure  of  an  introduction.  It  was  evident  that  neither 


4/3      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Mr.  Beecher  nor  Dr.  Talmage  knew  of  the  presence  of 
the  distinguished  Roman  Catholic  divine.  The  Mon- 
seigneur  wore  a  suit  of  clerical  black,  with  a  lilac-colored 
sash  over  his  shoulders  and  around  his  waist.  When 
asked  whether  he  wished  an  introduction  to  Mr.  Beecher, 
he  smiled  and  replied  : 

"  '  It  would  be  the  greatest  pleasure  of  my  life.  He  is 
the  one  man  in  America  whom  I  particularly  desire  to 
meet.' 

"  Three  minutes  later  I  had  Mr.  Beecher  by  the  arm. 
I  told  him  that  the  Monseigneur  desired  an  introduction 
to  him.  Mr.  Beecher's  eyes  twinkled. 

"  '  What's  his  calibre  ? '  he  asked,  as  he  moved  toward 
the  lilac-softened  sash.  'And  can  you  tell  me  whether 
he  is  loaded  for  bear  or  for  quail  ? ' 

"  As  the  pride  of  intellectual  Brooklyn  was  presented  the 
English  priest  moved  forward  and  shook  both  his  hands. 

"  '  Ah,  Mr.  Beecher,'  said  he,  '  this  is  indeed  a  pleas- 
ure. Do  I  at  last  see  the  world-renowned  apostle  of 
America  ?  It  has  been  the  ambition  of  my  life.  This  is 
the  proudest  moment  of  my  existence.' 

"  '  The  pleasure  is  mutual,'  Mr.  Beecher  replied.  '  I 
am  glad  to  meet  you.  Your  intellect  I  have  admired, 
but  you  are  a  much  more  handsome  man  than  I  had 
imagined.' 

" '  What,'  broke  in  the  Monseigneur,  with  a  low  laugh, 
'  getting  jealous  of  me  already  ?  ' 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   HIS   FRIENDS.     479 

"After  further  pleasant  badinage,  Mr.  Beecher  gravely 
invited  Capel  to  come  over  to  Plymouth  Church  some 
Sunday  and  preach  to  his  congregation. 

"  '  Beware,  Mr.  Beecher,'  responded  the  Monseigneur, 
in  a  seductive  tone ;  '  this  is  a  day  of  wonderful  possibil- 
ities. I  might  turn  your  flock  from  the  error  of  its  ways. 
Some  might  be  converted.' 

" '  If  in  one  hour  you  can  undo  what  it  has  taken  me 
forty  years  to  develop,'  Mr.  Beecher  said,  '  you  must  be 
a  very  remarkable  man  indeed.  Come  and  preach  to  us. 
It  will  do  you  good,  and  we  shall  be  glad  to  listen  to 
you.' 

"  About  this  time  the  Rev.  Dr.  Talmage  was  intro- 
duced. The  Monseigneur  had  begun  to  anoint  him  with 
the  oil  of  flattery,  when  Mr.  Thomas  McElrath  presented 
Russell  Sage. 

" '  He's  worth  $10,000,000,'  were  the  words  whispered  in 
the  priest's  ear,  whereupon  the  man  immortalized  in 
'  Lothair  '  turned  his  back  on  both  Beecher  and  Talmage, 
and  vainly  tried  to  fascinate  the  big-tailed  fox  of  Wall 
Street." 

Mrs.  Sarah  Cole,  eighty  years  of  age,  lives  at  248  Adel- 
phi  Street,  Brooklyn.  Her  father,  John  Cole,  was  the 
first  of  that  name  to  settle  in  Brooklyn.  He  lived  with 
his  family  for  thirty  years  in  a  house  which  stood  on  the 
site  of  Plymouth  Bethel.  The  family  were  Episcopali- 
ans, and  went  to  old  St.  Ann's  Church,  but  Mrs.  Sarah 


480     LIFE  AND   WORK  OF  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Cole  went  to  hear  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  deliver 
his  first  sermon  in  Plymouth  Church,  after  he  had  been 
called,  and  she  has  a  very  vivid  recollection  of  it. 

Her  memory  is  excellent  and  her  eyes  undimmed  in  spite 
of  her  years.  She  talks  and  laughs  as  cheerily  as  though 
she  were  a  score  of  years  younger,  and  said  to  a  visitor  : 

"  I  remember  well  the  first  sermon  that  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  preached  in  Brooklyn  after  he  had  been  called. 
The  church  was  crowded  ;  all  the  aisles  were  filled.  Mr. 
Beecher  took  for  his  text  the  words,  '  Jesus  Christ  and 
Him  crucified.'  He  was  a  slim  young  man  of  medium 
height.  He  had  long  dark  hair  and  very  strong  features. 
The  face  was  not  handsome,  but  very  good.  Such  oratory 
I  never  heard  in  all  my  life.  What  he  said  sounded  so  new, 
nobody  had  ever  heard  anything  like  it  before.  It  made 
people  feel  so  bright.  The  Bible  was  lighted  up  and 
made  plain  and  real  to  us.  When  the  service  was  over 
you  ought  to  have  heard  people  talking  as  they  were  going 
out  of  the  doors.  They  were  astonished,  and  said  to  each 
other, '  That's  preaching  for  you.'  The  congregation  of  St. 
Ann's  Church  thought  we  were  terrible.  They  imagined 
we  were  going  to  leave  the  Episcopalians  and  join  Ply- 
mouth Church,  but  there  was  no  fear  of  that — we  were  too 
much  attached  to  Dr.  Cutler.  We  went  to  hear  Mr. 
Beecher  quite  often,  though,  and  grew  to  love  him  very 
much.  People  didn't  know  what  to  make  of  Mr.  Beecher. 
They  said  he  was  not  orthodox,  but  those  who  heard  him 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF  HIS   FRIENDS.     481 

once  said  he  was  orthodox  enough  for  them.  He  never 
put  on  any  airs  even  in  those  days.  He  was  very  good 
to  the  poor. 

"  I  was  in  his  church  on  the  morning  the  fire  started. 
Smoke  was  coming  from  some  place  and  filling  the  room. 
Deacon  Howard  approached  Mr.  Beecher,  who  was  in  his 
pulpit,  and  whispered  to  ask  if  it  would  not  do  better  to 
dismiss  the  congregation.  He  said,  '  Oh,  no,'  and  went 
on  with  the  service.  After  the  service  was  over  they 
hunted  out  the  fire  and  extinguished  it,  but  the  flames 
burst  out  again  and  the  place  burned  down.  The  con- 
gregation got  a  temporary  place  while  the  church  was 
being  rebuilt.  Clergymen  and  strict  church  people  of 
other  denominations  thought  Beecher  was  off  the  track. 
They  said  he  was  a  Universalist,but  he  wasn't.  He  was 
just  as  liberal  then  to  all  other  denominations  as  he  was 
when  he  died.  He  never  said  anything  against  any  other 
creed.  I've  heard  him  say  he  would  like  to  sit  beside  the 
Roman  Catholics  in  heaven.  And  he  not  only  never 
spoke  any  harm  of  others,  but  he  also  never  thought  any 
harm  of  them.  He  was  the  most  unsuspicious  man  I 
ever  met.  He  made  the  very  best  of  everybody.  The 
good  which  he  did  was  incalculable  here.  Six  years  ago 
my  sister  went  out  on  Sunday  morning  and  came  home 
late  for  dinner.  I  said  :  '  Where  have  you  been  ? '  '  IVe 
been  in  heaven,'  she  said.  '  How  you  talk,'  said  I  ;  '  your 
dinner  has  grown  cold.'  '  What  I  heard  was  dinner 


482      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

enough  for  me,'  she  said  ;  '  I  was  at  Plymouth  Church 
listening  to  Mr.  Beecher  preaching.  Oh,  he  was  grand  ! '' 
That  was  the  last  sermon  my  sister  ever  heard.  She  took 
pneumonia,  and  was  dead  in  two  weeks,  but  I  believe  that 
sermon  brightened  her  last  days." 

Allan  Forman,  editor  of  The  Journalist,  tells  an  anec- 
dote charmingly  illustrative  of  the  interest  Mr.  Beecher 
took  in  young  people,  and  incidentally,  of  the  broad 
quality  of  his  mind,  which  deemed  nothing  of  kindly  no- 
tice too  trivial  for  his  remembrance. 

"  I  was  born  almost  within  a  stone's-throw  of  Mr. 
Beecher's  house,  in  Brooklyn,"  says  Mr.  Forman,  "and 
among  my  earliest  recollections  is  that  of  the  kind  face  of 
the  great  pastor  of  the  Plymouth  Church.  Mr.  Beecher 
was  the  friend  of  every  boy  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
nothing  seemed  to  please  him  better  than  to  watch  us  at 
our  games  and  to  have  us  appeal  to  him  for  some  decision 
in  our  childish  squabbles. 

"  I  remember  one  morning — it  must  have  been  twenty 
odd  years  ago — a  crowd  of  us  youngsters  were  playing 
marbles  not  far  from  Mr.  Beecher's  house.  Mr.  Beecher 
was  out  for  his  usual  morning  walk,  and  when  he  came  to 
us  he  stopped  and  stood  for  some  time  watching  us  as  we 
snapped  the  marbles  around  and  yelled  at  the  top  of  our 
Voices.  At  last  he  said  :  '  Now,  look  here,  boys,  you 
don't  know  how  to  play  marbles.  You  ought  to  let  me 
show  you  how.' " 


PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   HIS   FRIENDS.     483 

" '  Come  in  !  Give  us  some  points,  Mr.  Beecher  ! '  we 
yelled,  and  waited  with  our  mouths  open  and  our  eyes 
dancing,  to  see  him  get  down  on  his  knees  and  win  all 
our  marbles  from  us. 

"  '  Well,  I  am  going  down  the  street  now,'  said  Mr. 
Beecher,  '  but  I  will  come  back  in  a  few  minutes  and  we 
will  have  a  good  game.' 

"  And  pretty  soon  he  did  come  back  ;  and  what  made 
us  almost  jump  up  and  down  with  joy  was  that  his 
pockets  were  fairly  bulging  out  with  marbles. 

"  'Come  on,  boys,'  he  said,  and  he  stooped  down  and 
started  in  on  a  game  of  '  snap  in  the  ring.' 

"  Unfortunately  for  Mr.  Beecher's  prestige,  his  hands 
were  rather  stiff,  and  it  was  not  long  before  it  was  my  luck, 
as  I  was  pretty  nimble  with  the  marbles,  to  '  clean  him 
out,'  so  to  speak.  In  fact,  when  he  got  away  from  us  he 
didn't  have  a  marble  left,  for  we  were  playing  '  in  earnest.' 

"  Mr.  Beecher  took  his  defeat  very  good-naturedly,  and 
with  the  smiling  remark  that  '  he  guessed  he'd  have  to 
practise  a  little  before  he  tried  it  again,'  left  us. 

"  I  had  forgotten  all  about  the  incident,  but  not  very 
long  ago  I  attended  a  fair  at  the  Plymouth  Church  with 
my  wife,  when  Mr.  Beecher  came  along  and  touched  Mrs. 
Forman  on  the  shoulder,  and  pointing  to  me,  said : 
'Mrs.  Forman,  do  you  know  that  I  haven't  played  marbles 
since  your  husband  swindled  me  out  of  my  whole  stock 
when  he  was  a  boy.' " 


484      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

When  Mr.  Beecher  was  in  Chicago  a  few  years  ago,  a 
reporter  of  one  of  the  morning  papers  was  assigned  by 
his  city  editor  to  report  a  sermon  which  the  divine  was 
to  preach  at  Centenary  Church.  While  on  his  way  from 
the  church  to  his  office  the  reporter  lost  his  notes  out  of 
his  pocket.  In  his  desperation  the  news-gatherer  sought 
Mr.  Beecher  at  his  rooms,  at  the  Palmer  House,  and 
begged  the  divine  to  help  him  out  of  his  dilemma.  Mr. 
Beecher,  who  was  in  bed  at  the  time,  arose  and,  seating 
himself  beside  the  reporter,  went  over  his  sermon  with 
so  much  deliberation  that  the  newspaper  man  was  en- 
abled to  give  his  paper  the  best  report  printed  in  the 
city  the  next  morning.  This  is  only  one  of  the  many 
courtesies  Mr.  Beecher  showed  to  reporters. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

REMINISCENCES  AND  ANECDOTES. 

Fishing  with  Lampson  at  Litchfield. — Result  of  Divine  Mercy. — An  April 
Fool. — An  Old  Reporter's  Reminiscences. — A  Friend  to  Newspaper 
Men. — Knowing  One's  Own  Country. — The  Mood  Necessary  for 
Work.— The  Leather  Promissory  Note.— Weak  Coffee.— The  Warm 
Icicle. — A  Feast  at  Waterbury. — Dr.  Hall  and  Mr.  Beecher. — Mr. 
Beecher's  Humor. — A  Total  Abstainer  at  Public  Dinners. — Mr. 
Beecher's  Visits  to  Washington. — His  Dinner  Habits. — A  Bridal 
Substitute. — Hon.  Willard  Bartlett. — Mr.  Beecher's  Fondness  for 
Dogs.— The  Prayer  for  Delivery  from  Sudden  Death.— A  Little  Boy's 
Compliment. — Last  Appearance  in  Public  in  New  York. — Dr.  Tal- 
mage. — Mr.  Beecher  a  Good  Swimmer. — The  Debating  Society. — 
The  "Beecher  Calendar. "—Rev.  Frank  Russell.— Rev.  William  M. 
Taylor. — Crossing  the  East  River  on  the  Ice. — Eating  Candy  like  a 
School-boy. — The  Railway  Lunch- Counter. — Misunderstood  in  a  Ser- 
mon.— Dead  Letters. — The  Photographs. — The  Stomach  the  Boiler  of 
the  System. — The  Giddy  Gusher's  Reminiscences. — Mr.  Beecher's 
Friendship  for  Actors. — His  Present  to  Ellen  Terry. 

A  GOOD  story  is  told  of  Mr.  Beecher  when  years  ago  he 
spent  a  portion  of  his  vacation  at  Litchfield.  It  was  be- 
fore the  war,  when  the  distinction,  even  in  our  Northern 
States,  was  marked  between  the  white  man  and  the  col- 
ored man.  Mr.  Beecher  had  donned  his  regimentals,  as 
he  called  them,  consisting  of  high  top-boots,  a  farmer's 


486      LIFE  AND   WORK    OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

straw  hat,  blouse  coat,  and  pants  tucked  slouchingly  in- 
side his  boots.  Lampson,  the  whitewasher,  was  of  gi- 
gantic form,  and  as  black  as  the  ace  of  spades. 

Mr.  Beecher  was  in  readiness  to  start  for  Bantam  Lake, 
when  Mr.  Hollister  who  was  to  accompany  him,  was 
detained  on  legal  business  by  parties  from  out  of  town. 

"  Never  mind,  Hollister,"  said  Mr.  Beecher,  "  I  will  go 
on  alone." 

The  first  person  he  met  after  leaving  the  Mansion 
House  was  the  black  person,  Mr.  Lampson. 

"  See  here,  my  man,"  said  Mr.  Beecher,  "  do  you  ever 
go  fishing  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sah." 

"  And  enjoy  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sah." 

"  Well,  then,  come  with  me." 

While  Lampson  was  absent  for  the  horse  someone  told 
him  that  his  companion  was  no  less  a  personage  than  the 
great  preacher,  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  Lamp- 
son  was  awe-stricken.  Forgetting  to  secure  the  horse,  he 
approached  Mr.  Beecher,  hat  in  hand,  and  said : 

"  Be  you  Mr.  Beecher  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  laughed  the  preacher,  "  but  what  of  that  ?  " 

"  I  was  sure  you  had  made  a  mistake,  or  perhaps  you 
are  most  blind." 

"  Not  in  the  least,  my  man.  Come,  the  sun  is  getting 
high  ;  let's  be  off." 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  487 

Lampson  made  another  stand  against  occupying  the 
same  wagon-seat  with  the  great  man,  but  finally  all  ob- 
stacles were  removed,  and  they  started  at  a  rapid  pace 
down  West  Hill. 

The  fishing  was  excellent,  and  Lampson  drew  up  his 
lines  about  as  rapidly  as  he  could  set  them.  Soon  the 
bottom  of  the  boat  was  well  filled  with  pickerel,  roach, 
a  few  catfish,  and  one  bass.  But  Mr.  Beecher  had  not 
been  successful  in  making  a  single  haul. 

As  Lampson  was  gathering  up  the  fish,  Mr.  Beecher 
still  sat  in  the  boat  and  watched  him  with  a  serene  ex- 
pression upon  his  face  as  he  said :  "  Don't  tell  me  that 
the  black  man  is  the  white  man's  inferior.  Look  at  the 
spoils  of  to-day.  Which  is  the  better  man  of  the  two  ?" 
From  that  day  out  the  colored  people  of  Litchfield  had  a 
reverence  for  Mr.  Beecher  which  exceeded  that  for  any 
other  earthly  human  being,  and  Lampson  especially  was 
ready  always  to  assert  that  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  of 
the  great  men  of  the  age  and  time. 

When  the  Lyman  Beecher  Lectureship  in  the  Yale 
Theological  School  was  established,  the  distinguished 
son  of  the  great  polemic  was  naturally  chosen  as  the 
first  lecturer.  This  was  in  1872,  when  his  intellectual 
and  oratorical  powers  were  at  their  climax,  and  his  fame 
was  brightest.  Of  course,  the  size  of  the  chapel,  which 
was  far  too  small,  was  the  only  limit  to  the  size  of  the 
audiences.  It  was  Mr.  Beecher's  custom,  at  the  close  of 


488      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

every  lecture,  to  submit  to  a  rattling  fire  of  cross-ques- 
tions upon  every  phase  of  theological  doctrine,  of  homi- 
letics,  and  of  pastoral  work.  Professors  and  students 
were  the  questioners,  and  it  will  readily  be  believed  that 
some  of  them  sought  rather  to  puzzle  the  witness  than 
to  elucidate  the  subject.  But  Mr.  Beecher  never  hesi- 
tated for  an  answer,  and  often  turned  the  laugh  upon 
the  man  who  perhaps  had  expected  to  embarrass  him. 
Altogether,  it  was  a  remarkable  display  of  mental  nimble- 
ness.  One  ^day  an  anxious  inquirer,  after  many  efforts, 
obtained  a  hearing,  and  asked  : 

"  Mr.  Beecher,  how  is  it,  in  your  opinion,  that  there 
are  so  many  short  pastorates  in  these  days  ?  " 

"  Largely  of  the  Divine  mercy,"  was  the  instantaneous 
response. 

It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  audience  broke  into  a 
roar  of  laughter,  which  burst  forth  anew  as  often  as  it 
subsided,  until  it  seemed  as  if  it  would  never  stop. 

One  of  the  almost  countless  instances  of  Mr.  Beecher's 
readiness  at  repartee  occurred  a  few  years  ago  on  the  first 
of  April.  Some  would-be  wag  sent  him  a  letter  con- 
taining on  a  sheet  of  paper  only  the  words,  "  April  Fool." 
Mr.  Beecher  opened  it,  and  then  a  delighted  smile  beamed 
over  his  face  as  he  exclaimed  :  "  Well !  I've  often  heard 
of  a  man  writing  a  letter  and  forgetting  to  sign  it ;  but 
this  is  the  first  case  of  a  man  signing  his  name  and  for- 
getting to  write  th"e  letter  !  " 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  489 

"  The  newspaper  men  will  always  remember  him  with 
kind  regard,"  remarks  an  old  New  York  reporter.  "  Of 
all  prominent  public  men,  I  think  he  was  the  most  ap- 
proachable. Even  during  his  great  trials — both  Church 
and  State  —  the  eminent  divine  was  affable  to  the 
humblest  scribe,  though  the  latter  may  have  been  con- 
nected with  a  paper  that  was  anti-Beecher,  with  a  duty 
assigned  him  that  was  to  discolor  the  bright  plush  of 
Plymouth's  pulpit.  True  it  is  that  his  counsel  and  friends 
kept  Mr.  Beecher  as  much  aloof  as  possible  from  inter- 
views by  press  representatives,  and  well  they  might,  for 
words  had  been  placed  in  type — in  cold  lead — that  never 
fell  from  the  great  preacher's  mouth,  and  '  Bohemian  ' 
translations  were  given  to  his  expressions  as  far  removed 
from  the  truth  as  an  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  is  from  a 
hanging-order  to  a  sheriff. 

The  last  time  I  met  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  in  the 
Brackett  House,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  when  he  and  his  pri- 
vate secretary  were  on  their  way  to  Salt  Lake.  This 
was  some  time  after  the  last  trial,  and  shortly  subsequent 
to  the  time  when  he  was  chosen  chaplain  of  the  Thir- 
teenth (Brooklyn)  regiment  of  the  New  York  National 
Guard.  He  had  been  absent  from  home  several  days, 
having  made  the  trip  to  the  point  named  via  the  Erie 
road,  as  he  wished  to  pay  a  visit  to  his  brother  Thomas, 
in  Elmira.  I  found  him  in  the  hotel  parlor  waiting  for 
the  Western  train.  He  was  reading  by  the  aid  of  a  half- 


490      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

burned  wax-candle  which  he  held  in  his  hand  close  to 
the  paper,  although  there  was  the  usual  ample  gas-light 
in  the  room.  Very  pleasantly  he  remarked  that  his  eye- 
sight had  grown  dim  and  necessitated  a  nearer  light  than 
that  generally  afforded  by  the  illuminating  fixtures  in 
public  places.  He  said  he  was  making  a  Western  trip, 
perhaps  for  the  last  time,  and  that  only  one  more  exten- 
sive journey  was  in  contemplation,  and  that  that  was 
across  the  sea.  "  I  hate,"  he  said,  "  to  go  to  Europe  and 
have  people  ask  me  about  places  of  note  in  my  own  coun- 
try, and  then  have  to  confess  I  never  saw  them.  Hence, 
I  intend  to  make  very  close  observations  during  this 
Western  journey." 

On  being  asked  if  he  did  not  think  the  ordeal  through 
which  the  Tilton  scandal  had  forced  him  would  occasion 
him  rather  unpleasant  publicity,  he  said  he  had  never 
given  that  matter  a  thought  since  the  case  had  ended  in 
the  courts.  In  fact,  as  the  newspapers  had  made  it  their 
own  property,  he  did  not  even  then  have  a  first  mort- 
gage on  the  scandal.  It  so  happened  that  on  the  day 
referred  to  Frank  Leslie's  illustrated  journal  had  arrived, 
with  the  first-page  picture  representing  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  in  the  full  military  dress  of  the  chaplain  of  the 
Thirteenth.  When  it  was  shown  him  for  the  first  time, 
he  laughed  heartily,  and  remarked  that  the  picture  was 
very  life-like  indeed,  especially  as  he  had  never  worn  the 
uniform,  and  in  fact  had  not  at  that  time  ordered  it. 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  491 

He  hoped,  however,  that  the  tailor  would  make  as  good 
a  fit  as  the  sketch  artist  had,  and  also  as  cheap.  Wendell 
Phillips  had  lectured  in  Rochester  that  night  on  "  Daniel 
O'Connell."  When  Mr.  Beecher  heard  of  this  he  became 
very  enthusiastic  in  praise  of  the  great  orator,  and  ex 
pressed  his  regret  at  not  being  in  the  city  at  an  hour  that 
would  have  permitted  his  attendance  at  the  lecture. 
"  Wendell  and  I  have  been  friends  for  a  lifetime,"  he 
said,  "and  there  is  only  one  thing  I  have  to  blame  him 
for.  He  ought  to  have  been  a  minister.  What  good  he 
could  have  done !  Yes,  he  might  have  been  a  chaplain 
of  a  militia  regiment,  and  I  do  not  doubt  in  the  least  that 
had  he  taken  clerical  orders  he  would  have  been  the 
target  of  scandalous  tongues  and  pens.  One  thing  is 
certain,  however,  he  has  done  more  than  a  regiment  of 
soldiers  and  preachers  for  the  freedom  of  the  negro,  and 
if  Ireland  had  one  or  two  such  champions,  that  distressed 
country  would  need  no  Fenian  organization." 

Just  before  Mr.  Beecher  departed  for  the  West,  Wen- 
dell Phillips  arrived  at  the  depot  to  take  the  train  for 
the  East.  The  meeting  between  the  two  great  American 
orators  was  of  the  most  cordial  character,  and  profuse  re- 
grets were  heartily  expressed  that  they  were  not  going  in 
the  same  direction.  Thus  ended  an  interview  ever  to  be 
remembered. 

Though  methodical  in  his  habits  of  labor,  he  could 
never  work  when  he  did  not  feel  in  the  humor  for  it. 


492      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

"  I  can't  work  unless  the  sap  flows,"  was  his  common  re- 
mark when  urged  to  finish  the  "  Life  of  Christ."  His 
correspondence  was  immense.  If  away  for  a  few  days 
his  table  would  be  covered  with  letters  from  all  over  the 
world.  He  was  punctual  in  replying  to  all  that  he  found 
worth  answering.  This  was  about  the  only  writing  he 
was  accustomed  to  do  at  night. 

If  a  certain  promissory  note,  made  upon  a  piece  of 
leather,  be  found  among  his  assets,  it  will  be  dated  "  Sar- 
atoga," and  contain  the  signature  of  a  Saratogian  who 
expected  to  reap  a  rich  harvest  by  having  the  distin- 
guished divine  lecture  in  the  Town  Hall  one  evening 
several  winters  ago.  Unfortunately,  the  weather  that 
night  was  of  the  blizzard  pattern,  and  the  attendance 
was  a  numerical  disappointment  to  the  individual  man- 
agement. The  lecturer  was  to  have  begun  at  eight 
o'clock,  but  he  did  not  ascend  the  platform  till  8.15  P.M. 
It  subsequently  leaked  out  that  the  person  who  had  en- 
gaged Mr.  Beecher  was  financially  heart-broken  at  the 
result  and  was  able  to  hand  him  only  a  portion  of  the 
$250  agreed  upon.  "  I  will  give  you  my  note  for  the  bal- 
ance," said  the  Saratogian.  "  That  is  a  good  idea,"  said 
Mr.  Beecher,  "  but  allow  me  to  suggest  that  you  make 
it  out  on  leather,  in  order  that  I  can  the  better  preserve  it." 
Whether  the  leather  note  relic  is  found  or  not,  the  inci- 
dent illustrated  the  eminent  pulpit  orator's  keen  apprecia- 
tion of  the  ludicrous  and  grotesque. 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  493 

Two  or  three  times  during  the  lecture  referred  to 
above  Mr.  Beecher  was  annoyed  by  the  insufferable 
noise  created  by  a  gallery  door,  the  hinges  of  which  had 
evidently  not  been  greased  for  years.  An  overgrown 
fellow,  wearing  a  new  pair  of  heavy  boots,  blundered 
through  the  swinging  door  and  measured  his  way  to  a 
seat,  when  Mr.  Beecher  stopped  in  the  centre  of  a  brill- 
iant flight  of  oratory,  and  with  a  quizzical  expression 
remarked  :  "  I  actually  believe  that  it  would  greatly  add 
to  the  happiness  of  all  if  the  hand  of  industry  would  ap- 
ply the  oil  of  harmony  in  order  to  alleviate  the  excruciat- 
ing agony  of  that  squeaking  hinge."  The  wearer  of  the 
boots  was  of  the  opinion  that  he  was  the  "  hinge "  re- 
ferred to,  and  consequently  was  the  only  one  in  the  au- 
dience who  did  not  enjoy  the  lecture.  The  hinge — not 
the  boots — has  been  oiled  regularly  since  that  date. 

Once  while  taking  supper  at  a  second-rate  hotel  in 
Central  New  Jersey,  Mr.  Beecher,  after  a  few  moments  of 
meditation,  called  to  the  colored  waiter.  "  Can  you  give 
me  a  good  deal  of  your  time  to-night  ?  "  said  the  great 
preacher  to  the  son  of  Africa.  The  son  of  Africa,  with 
bright  visions  of  a  two-dollar  bill,  replied,  "  Yes,  sah.  May 
find  it  mighty  hard,  sah,  but  I'll  try."  "Well,"  said  Mr. 
Beecher,  "  I  want  you  to  sit  up  all  night  with  that  coffee. 
It's  so  weak  it's  going  to  die  before  morning." 

While  delivering  the  Lyman  Beecher  course  of  lect- 
ures in  1872,  Mr.  Beecher  was  asked  by  one  of  the  theo- 


21 


494      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

logical  professors  if  a  cold  and  unsympathetic  man  ought 
to  enter  the  ministry.  "  As  well,"  quoth  Mr.  Beecher, 
"  take  an  icicle  to  warm  a  sick  man's  bed." 

The  Young  Men's  Institute  engaged  Mr.  Beecher  to 
lecture  in  Waterbury,  Conn.  It  being  his  first  visit  to 
Waterbury,  Hotchkiss'  hall  was  filled  in  floor  and  gal- 
lery. Beecher  stopped  at  the  Scoville  House.  Its  repu- 
tation then  (kept  by  a  former  landlord)  was  not  very 
good.  It  was  at  a  time  when  the  firemen,  at  their  an- 
nual ball  supper,  were  given  cold  rice  and  used  to  have 
to  draw  cuts  between  each  couple  for  an  oyster  stew,  as 
this  delicacy  in  those  days  was  alternated  down  the  long 
tables  with  clam  chowder. 

On  the  morning  following  the  lecture  Mr.  Beecher  de- 
cided to  visit  a  friend  in  New  Milford,  and  concluded  to 
drive  overland.  A  team  was  hired  at  the  Scoville  House 
stables.  Jerry  Flynn,  the  stable-boy,  engaged  to  drive 
Mr.  Beecher  to  New  Milford.  Not  a  word  was  spoken 
for  ten  miles,  when  going  up  a  long  hill  near  Southbury, 
the  divine  spoke  up  abruptly  : 

"  Boy,  did  you  ever  feel  like  a  stuffed  sausage  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  the  boy. 

"  Well,  sir,  you  never  will  if  you  board  at  the  Scoville 
House." 

This  was  the  only  word  uttered  during  the  trip,  but  it 
verifies  the  statement  that  Mr.  Beecher  liked  something 
good  to  eat. 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  495 

The  great  friendship  that  has  always  existed  between 
Mr.  Beecher  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  H.  Hall,  of  Holy 
Trinity,  has  been  a  favorite  theme  of  discussion  among 
Brooklyn  pastors,  and  the  following  incident  shows  the 
depth  of  that  feeling  :  It  was  during  the  famous  trial,  and 
a  celebration  of  some  kind  was  being  held  in  Dr.  Hall's 
church.  To  the  surprise  of  the  strict  Episcopalians,  Mr. 
Beecher  attended,  and  to  their  horror  was  admitted  be- 
hind the  chancel-rail.  This  provoked  an  expression  of 
indignation  from  some  of  the  members,  who  carried  their 
grievances  to  Dr.  Hall.  That  gentleman  drew  himself 
up  to  his  full  height,  and  inquired  :  "  What  have  you  to 
say  about  it  ?  Mr.  Beecher  is  not  convicted  ;  he  is  only 
on  trial ;  and  I  reserve  the  right  to  extend  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  to  any  man  who  needs  it  or  deserves 
it.  He  is  my  friend,  and  what  kind  of  a  man  is  he  who 
will  not  in  time  of  trouble  help  his  friend  ?  What  have 
you  to  say  against  it  ?  - 

"  But  the  Bishop — what  will  he  say  ?"  asked  the  in- 
dignant members. 

Dr.  Hall's  face  grew  blacker  than  ever.  "  The  Bishop," 
he  said — "what  business  is  it  of  his?  What  right  has 
the  Bishop  to  interfere  with  my  private  affairs  ?  " 

Mr.  Beecher  remained,  and  the  only  comment  of  the 
indignant  members  was,  "Well,  Dr.  Hall  is  the  only 
man  who  could  do  that,  and  Mr.  Beecher  is  the  only  one 
who  could  make  him  do  it." 


496      LIFE  AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

An  old-time  New  York  journalist,  who  had  had  inti- 
mate associations  with  Mr.  Beecher  for  many  years,  said, 
recently:  "I  never  found  anything  about  Mr.  Beecher 
more  characteristic  than  his  humor.  He  was  filled  with 
amusing  anecdotes  about  public  men,  and  loved  to  hear 
one  at  his  own  expense.  I  met  him  one  night  on  the 
steps  of  Moulton's  house,  in  Brooklyn,  and  he  sat  down  on 
the  cold  stone  to  listen  to  a  story  about  his  first  volume 
of  the  '  Life  of  Christ.'  Mr.  Beecher  laughed  heartily  over 
it,  and  admitted  its  entire  truth.  When  the  book  was 
ready  for  the  press  a  steel  plate  costing  $400  was  made 
for  the  title-page.  It  read,  as  engraved,  '  Life  of  Jesus 
Christ.  By  Henry  Ward  Beecher ; '  but  Mr.  Beecher 
had  written  on  the  margin,  for  insertion  after  Jesus  and 
before  Christ,  the  word  '  the.'  The  idea  had  not  come  to 
him  until  after  the  plate  was  made,  and  the  question  of 
expense  never  occurred  to  him." 

"  Naturally  enough,"  said  a  friend  of  Mr.  Beecher,  "  he 
was  frequently  present  at  public  dinners,  and  a  singular 
feature  of  his  conduct  on  such  occasions  was  his  total  ab- 
stinence from  the  solid  and  liquid  good  cheer  set  before 
him.  His  abstinence,  he  told  me,  was  in  accordance  with 
his  doctor's  advice,  and  a  measure  of  precaution  against 
apoplexy.  Just  fancy  the  stoicism  and  self-denial  in- 
volved in  a  man  of  Beecher's  enthusiastic  temperament 
sitting  through  a  long  dinner,  and  patiently  waiting  for 
the  time  to  come  when  he  should  share  in  the  intellectual 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  497 

part  of  it.  I  have  seen  him  occasionally  drink  a  little 
water  at  a  banquet,  but  beyond  that  indulgence  he  never 
went." 

A  friend  in  Washington  says,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
President  Cleveland  held  Mr.  Beecher  in  very  high  es- 
teem. This  was  so  notorious,  it  will  be  remembered, 
that  during  the  early  part  of  the  present  administration 
there  was  some  talk  about  the  divine  going  to  England  as 
Minister  to  the  Court  of  St.  James.  But  Mr.  Beecher  had 
no  taste  or  ambition  for  such  a  position,  were  it  offered 
him. 

A  number  of  times  during  the  past  six  years  Mr. 
Beecher  visited  Washington.  Usually  he  came  in  the 
capacity  of  lecturer,  and  occupied  the  pulpit  at  the  First 
Congregational  Church.  He  drew  large  audiences  of  the 
best  people.  He  always  stopped  at  the  Ebbitt,  and  a 
large  number  of  citizens  would  go  to  the  hotel  for  meals 
during  his  stay,  simply  to  get  to  see  and  hear  him  in  his 
more  private  capacity  than  he  appeared  in  when  on  the 
rostrum. 

When  Mr.  Beecher  entered  the  dining-room  he  was  in- 
variably seated  at  a  table  alone,  and  ere  ten  minutes 
elapsed  there  would  not  be  a  vacant  seat  at  the  table  oc- 
cupied by  him.  Instantly  upon  his  seating  himself  there 
would  be  a  movement  about  the  dining-room.  Every- 
body who  knew  him,  and  many  who  did  not  know  him 
personally,  insisted  upon  going  to  his  table.  And  scarcely 


LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 


a  moment  during  the  hour  and  a  half  at  the  table  would 
all  have  sober  faces.  It  was  an  uninterrupted  season  of 
laughing  from  the  moment  one  sat  down  beside  him  till 
he  was  out  of  sight.  He  insisted  that  serious  subjects 
ought  not  to  be  discussed  at  the  dining-table,  as  they  re- 
tarded digestion. 

Mr.  Beecher  was  to  have  married  a  young  couple  at 
his  house  on  Thursday  evening  of  the  week  before  his 
death,  but  on  Wednesday  night  the  young  man  came  to 
announce  that  the  lady  had  backed  out.  "  Cheer  up," 
said  Mr.  Beecher  —  "  I  will  get  you  a  better  girl,"  and  he 
summoned  his  house-maid,  Mary  Moloney. 

Mr.  Beecher  was  present  at  a  dinner  to  Herbert 
Spencer  some  years  ago,  and  addressed  a  highly  intellect- 
ual, not  to  say  sceptical,  audience,  and  brought  them  to 
their  feet  in  a  perfect  storm  of  applause  by  a  speech 
which  he  concluded  with  the  confident  assertion  of  his 
belief  in  immortality.  Hon.  Willard  Bartlett  says  :  "  He 
then  vindicated  his  title  to  be  considered  the  greatest 
preacher  of  his  time,  not  only  to  the  common  people, 
but  to  those  who,  in  some  sort  at  least,  claim  to  be  the 
wisest  of  mankind." 

Once  in  an  address  in  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  he 
described  some  atrocity  in  the  South,  and  said  :  "  Is 
there  anybody  worse  than  that  in  Sing  Sing  ?  "  From 
the  highest  gallery  a  shrill  voice  cried  out,  "  Yes."  "  I 
give  it  up,  then,"  said  Mr.  Beecher  ;  "  you've  been  there." 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  499 

When  the  audience  learned  that  it  was  not  prearranged, 
the  cheering  was  tremendous. 

Mr.  Beecher  even  had  a  fixed  opinion  about  dogs.  He 
once  said  :  "  If  the  dog  isn't  good  for  anything  else,  it  is 
good  for  you  to  love,  and  that  is  a  good  deal.  I  have  two 
miserable  little  scraggy  dogs  up  at  my  Peekskill  farm. 
They  are  practically  good  for  nothing,  but  I  sometimes 
think  that  they  are  worth  more  to  me  than  the  whole  place.'' 

He  did  not  like  the  petition  in  the  Litany  in  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  for  delivery  from  sudden  death.  His 
father,  Lyman  Beecher,  lived  long  after  his  mental  facul- 
ties were  impaired.  Referring  to  his  father's  experience, 
he  once  said  to  a  friend  :  "  I  know  there  is  a  purgatory, 
for  I  have  seen  it." 

He  was  very  proud  of  a  compliment  paid  his  preaching 
by  a  little  boy  who  said  :  "  I  don't  know  what  he  means, 
but  somehow  I  feel  better." 

As  before  stated,  Mr.  Beecher's  last  public  speech  was 
delivered  at  a  demonstration  in  Chickering  Hall,  in  New 
York,  on  February  26th,  in  favor  of  the  Crosby  High 
License  Bill.  He  was  received  with  a  perfect  tumult  of 
applause.  When  he  began  his  address  he  did  so  in  a 
somewhat  low  tone  of  voice,  which  elicited  cries  of 
"  Louder ! "  He  replied  :  "  I'll  be  loud  enough  when  I 
get  warmed  up." 

Dr.  Talmage  was  asked  what  he  thought  of  the  nar- 
row-minded refusal  of  the  Chicago  clergy  to  send  Mrs. 


500      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Beecher  an  expression  of  sympathy.  He  smiled  gently, 
and  said :  "  I  read  of  a  battle  fought  in  a  fog,  during  the 
late  rebellion,  when  two  regiments  of  the  same  army 
shattered  each  other  before  it  was  found  that  friends  were 
destroying  friends.  Mr.  Beecher  was  too  great  for  de- 
struction by  a  battle  in  a  fog." 

A  young  gentleman  who  has  grown  up  under  the 
ministrations  of  the  Plymouth  pastor  thus  describes  his 
youthful  acquaintance  with  him  : 

"  Mr.  Beecher  was  always  a  great  swimmer.  There 
was  in  those  days  near  Fulton  Ferry  a  huge  floating 
boat-house,  kept  by  an  old-time  exhorter  named  Gray. 
Thither  Mr.  Beecher  used  to  go  in  his  younger  days,  and 
with  head-long  jump,  plunge  deep  into  the  East  River 
waves,  spouting  and  puffing  with  all  the  energy  of  a  fully- 
developed  whale — an  expert  swimmer,  a  diver  better  than 
any  boy  in  the  City  of  Churches.  The  price  for  a  bath 
was  a  shilling,  and  I  never  shall  forget  the  odd  sensation 
I  experienced  one  day  when,  meeting  the  dominie  in  the 
street,  he  asked  if  I  would  go  down  to  the  ferry  and 
take  a  bath.  I  was  about  eight  years  old,  and  not  over- 
burdened with  spending  money,  and  bluntly  told  him  I 
would  like  to  go  first-rate,  but  that  I  hadn't  got  the 
shilling.  A  quizzical  look  spread  all  over  his  ruddy  face, 
as  laughingly  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  said  :  '  Come 
along.  When  you  ask  a  young  lady  to  take  ice-cream 
with  you,  you  don't  expect  her  to  pay  for  it,  do  you  ? ' 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  5OI 

"  Later  on  a  number  of  us  boys  clubbed  together  and 
started  a  debating  society.  Governor  Banks,  John  H. 
Raymond,  President  of  Vassar  College,  and  Mr.  Beecher 
were  among  our  lecturers.  We  hired  the  Athenaeum, 
corner  of  Atlantic  and  Clinton  Streets,  Brooklyn,  and 
with  a  flourish  of  trumpets  announced  Mr.  Beecher  in 
his  famous  lecture  on  '  Character.'  -His  clean-cut  dis- 
tinction drawn  that  night  between  character  and  reputa- 
tion produced  an  impression  upon  many  a  mature  mind, 
and  started  thoughts  in  many  a  youthful  mentality  that 
have  been  of  vast  usefulness  in  stormy  periods  since.  It 
fell  to  my  lot  to  introduce  the  lecturer,  and  just  before 
we  went  on,  while  waiting  in  the  little  ante-disrobing 
room,  I  said,  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  with  chin  in 
the  air,  this  is  the  way  I  am  going  to  sit.  Beecher 
laughed  and  said :  '  No,  no ;  put  down  your  chin. 
Whenever  you  see  a  man  with  his  chin  in  the  air,  you 
may  know  there  is  nothing  in  the  front  of  his  head.' 
Continuing,  he  asked  :  '  What  are  you  going  to  say  ?'  I 
told  him  I  wanted  to  announce  that  the  next  lecture 
would  be  delivered  by  Mr.  Banks,  of  Massachusetts,  but 
that  I  really  didn't  know  how  to  do  it.  '  Why,'  said  he, 
'do  it  just  as  you  have  done  it  to  me.  Tell  them  what 
you  have  to  say  and  then  sit  down.' 

"  The  receipts  of  the  lecture  were  about  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  dollars  ;  the  expenses,  including  rental 
of  the  hall,  advertising,  and  attendance,  about  fifty  dol- 


502      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

lars.  After  the  lecture  was  over  Mr.  Beecher,  my  cousin, 
and  I  walked  home  together,  and  as  we  said  '  Good-night' 
at  the  door  of  my  father's  house,  while  shaking  hands 
with  him  I  left  in  his  palm  his  fee  of  fifty  dollars.  Recog- 
nizing in  a  moment  what  it  was,  he  pushed  it  back  with 
a  gesture  almost  of  impatience,  certainly  of  annoyance, 
and  said  :  '  Nonsense ;  keep  that  to  pull  you  through.'  " 

Mr.  Beecher  spent  most  of  the  last  day  of  his  con- 
scious life  driving  about  New  York  with  his  wife  on  vari- 
ous errands  of  pleasure  and  business.  Mr.  E.  C.  Fisher, 
a  prominent  member  of  his  church,  met  him  at  the  sec- 
ond landing  of  the  stairs  leading  to  Cassell  &  Co.'s  office, 
at  No.  739  Broadway.  Mr.  Beecher  was  out  of  breath 
and  exhausted  with  the  effort  of  climbing,  and  as  he  sank 
into  a  chair  at  the  door  of  the  office  he  said,  "  Confound 
those  stairs  !  " 

"  Why,  Mr.  Beecher,"  said  Mr.  Fisher,  "  I  never  heard 
you  speak  ill  of  anybody  before." 

"  Well,  those  stairs  are  not  anybody,"  Mr.  Beecher  re- 
plied, and  he  would  not  budge  from  the  chair  at  the 
outer  door  until  he  was  thoroughly  rested. 

Then  he  went  with  Mr.  Fisher  to  the  inner  office  to 
be  introduced  to  Mr.  Dunham,  the  manager  of  the  house. 
He  had  come  to  get  a  "  Beecher  Calendar  "  for  every 
one  of  his  children  and  grandchildren.  When  the  calen- 
dar was  issued  Mr.  Beecher  took  very  little  interest  in  it, 
and  said  that  he  was  not  epigrammatic  enough  to  furnish 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  503 

brief  selections  suitable  for  such  a  purpose ;  it  was  too 
easy  in  that  way  to  get  hold  of  one  end  of  his  idea  and 
leave  the  other  in  the  air.  But  a  friend  who  had  one  of 
these  calendars  converted  him  by  reading  to  him,  when- 
ever he  appeared,  the  very  concise  and  appropriate 
phrases  in  which  he  had  hit  off  the  sentiments.  After 
that  he  regarded  it  with  more  interest,  and  was  really 
quite  pleased  with  the  way  "  that  old  fellow "  daily 
touched  upon  the  foibles,  provoked  the  mirth,  and 
soothed  the  sorrows  of  his  kind. 

The  following  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Frank  Russell, 
who  was  intimate  with  Mr.  Beecher's  family,  may  be 
suggestive  of  one  charm  : 

"The  impression  is  prevalent  that  Mr.  Beecher's  life 
was  one  of  singular  charity  and  generosity,  and  in  this 
regard  he  was  probably  susceptible  of  easy  imposition.  I 
have  seen  him  hand  money  to  those  asking  alms,  or  call- 
ing at  his  door  with  pitiful  tales  of  distress,  in  amounts 
which  I  silently  thought  were  far  too  large  for  the 
occasion.  The  remark  was  common  among  those  who 
knew  of  the  circumstances,  when  his  apparently  large 
salary  was  the  theme  of  conversation,  that  it  made  very 
little  difference  how  much  Mr.  Beecher  received,  for  he 
would  give  all  away  but  his  living,  and  his  family  had  to 
watch  pretty  closely  to  get  that." 

The  principal  charm  of  Mr.  Beecher's  sermons  was 
that  they  were  neither  bookish  nor  shop-worn.  There 


504      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

was  none  of  the  atmosphere  of  the  study  on  them,  nor 
the  flavor  of  midnight  oil.  The  Rev.  William  M.  Tay- 
lor once  wrote  concerning  his  sermons,  saying  : 

"  Those  who  know  him  best  say  that  he  studies  his 
sermons  in  the  shops  and  stores,  in  the  streets  and  in  the 
ferry-boats  ;  and  we  believe  it,  for  they  are  like  the  pro- 
ductions of  a  man  who  has  gone  through  the  city  with 
his  eyes  open." 

Mr.  Beecher  said  concerning  his  sermons  that  he  never 
put  them  on  the  market  before  they  were  ripe ;  or,  in 
other  words,  he  never  preached  a  sermon  that  he  had  not 
carefully  thought  out  beforehand.  He  preached  to  his 
people,  not  at  them. 

Some  years  ago,  a  friend  relates,  the  East  River  was 
frozen  over,  and  the  passage  of  the  ferry-boats  between 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  stopped  for  several  hours  until 
a  channel  could  be  cut.  A  number  of  venturesome  busi- 
ness men,  anxious  to  reach  New  York,  crossed  on  the  ice 
near  Pierrepont's  stores,  landing  on  the  New  York  side 
below  Fulton  Ferry.  Mr.  Beecher  came  down  from  his 
residence,  with  the  intention  of  taking  passage  to  New 
York,  and  finding  the  boats  not  running  he  led  a  large 
party  across  the  ice-field,  which  late-comers  had  hesitated 
to  venture  upon.  Mr.  Beecher  acted  most  of  the  way, 
like  a  school-boy — running  and  sliding — and  when  he 
reached  the  New  York  shore  he  declared,  "  I've  not  had 
as  much  fun  since  I  was  a  boy !  " 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  505 

A  neighbor  of  Mr.  Beecher  relates  that  he  never  grew 
old  in  his  love  of  simple  pleasures.  He  would  eat  candy 
like  a  school-boy.  One  night  the  neighbor  was  crossing 
Fulton  Ferry  at  a  late  hour,  when  Mr.  Beecher  sauntered 
aboard  and  took  his  seat  under  one  of  the  side  gaslights. 
He  was  unattended,  and  there  were  very  few  passengers 
in  the  cabin.  He  had  a  big,  white  paper  of  "mixed 
candy."  There  must  have  been  a  pound  of  it  at  least.  It 
was  cone-shaped,  and  while  with  one  hand  he  held  the 
apex  he  thrust  the  other  into  the  sweets  every  few 
minutes  and  conveyed  a  handful  to  his  mouth.  He 
munched  away  without  ceremony,  regardless  of  the  side- 
long glances  stolen  at  his  democratic  feast.  When  the 
boat  struck  the  slip  he  moved  out  into  the  street  and  up 
the  Heights,  eating  away  with  childish  relish  and  at  a 
rate  that  promised  the  total  consumption  of  the  supply 
before  he  got  to  his  house. 

At  another  time  the  same  gentleman  was  on  his  way 
to  Washington  by  the  limited  express  when,  just  as  the 
train  was  about  to  leave  the  depot  at  Jersey  City,  Mr. 
Beecher  came  hurriedly  aboard.  The  place  assigned  him 
happened  to  be  one  of  the  sofa-seats  in  the  same  com- 
partment with  his  friend.  It  was  in  the  winter,  and  he 
had  on  a  capacious  overcoat.  The  outside  pockets  were 
stuffed  with  pea-nuts.  The  train  had  hardly  started 
when  he  produced  a  package  of  papers,  most  of  them 
religious  weeklies,  and  b.egan  to  read.  Although  he  must 


506      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

have  had  breakfast  hardly  an  hour  before,  he  brought  out 
a  handful  of  pea-nuts  and  proceeded  to  eat  them.  From 
this  moment  onward  until  the  train  reached  Wilmington, 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  he  never  left  his  seat. 
But  he  read  the  papers  and  ate  pea-nuts.  Even  in  the 
fifteen  minutes  for  lunch  at  Philadelphia  the  caterer  on  the 
train  did  not  divert  him  from  his  twofold  occupation. 
He  drank  nothing  ;  he  saw  nothing;  he  ate  nothing  but 
pea-nuts.  The  discarded  shells  were  carefully  thrown  in  a 
heap  at  the  end  of  the  sofa,  and  would  have  more  than 
filled  a  peck  measure  when  the  train  arrived  at  Wilming- 
ton. Here  the  monotonous  business  was  interrupted  at 
last.  A  gentleman  who  got  aboard  at  this  point  walked 
through  the  train,  looking  for  someone.  It  was  a  com- 
mittee-man delegated  to  meet  the  clergyman  and  escort 
him  to  his  hotel  in  Baltimore,  where  he  was  to  deliver  a 
lecture  that  night. 

Ex-Postmaster  McLeer,  of  Brooklyn,  relates  an  amus- 
ing story  of  Mr.  Beecher.  He  notified  Mr.  Beecher  that 
a  "  dead  letter  "  of  his  was  held,  and  received  in  reply 
the  following : 

"  October  28,  1880. 
"  COLONEL  MCLEER — 

DEAR  SIR  :  Your  notice  that  a  letter  of  mine  was 
dead  and  subject  to  my  order  is  before  me. 

"  We  must  all  die !  And  though  the  premature  de- 
cease of  my  poor  letter  should  excite  a  proper  sympathy 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  507 

(and  I  hope  it  does),  yet  I  am  greatly  sustained  under  the 
affliction. 

"What  was  the  date  of  its  death?  Of  what  did  it 
die  ?  Had  it  in  its  last  hours  proper  attention  and  such 
consolation  as  befit  the  melancholy  occasion  ?  Did  it 
leave  any  effects  ? 

"  Will  you  kindly  see  to  its  funeral  ?  I  am  strongly 
inclined  to  cremation. 

"  May  I  ask  whether  any  other  letters  of  mine  are  sick, 
dangerously  sick  ?  If  any  depart  this  life,  don't  notify 
me  till  after  the  funeral. 

"  Affectionately  yours, 

"  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER." 

Colonel  McLeer  examined  the  deceased  letter  and 
wrote  to  Mr.  Beecher :  "  I  hesitate,  Mr.  Beecher,  to 
carry  out  your  instructions  in  regard  to  the  cremation  of 
your  letter,  as  it  contains  a  check  for  $150." 

On  the  receipt  of  this  information,  Mr.  Beecher  hast- 
ened to  Colonel  McLeer's  office.  Entering  the  room 
with  a  rush,  he  threw  his  hat  with  force  on  the  desk. 
Drawing  himself  to  his  full  height  he,  without  preface 
and  looking  the  colonel  full  in  the  face,  said  : 

"  I  do  hereby  fully  revoke,  cancel,  and  rescind  all  the 
powers  delegated  to  you  to  cremate  any  letters  of  mine, 
or  any  in  which  I  may  have  an  interest." 

Then  he  demanded  his  letter,  received  it,  and  the  two 


5O8      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   EEECHER. 

friends  sat  down  and  endeavored  to  outdo  each  other  in 
telling  stories. 

The  following  letter  was  written  by  Mr.  Beecher  to  a 
local  artist  some  time  ago,  after  a  number  of  photographs 
of  himself  had  been  submitted  to  him  : 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  One  of  the  small  photos  is  comely  in 
my  wife's  eyes.  The  larger  ones  are  good,  provided  you 
finish  one  of  them  for  women  and  one  for  men — i.e.,  one 
of  them  as  I  ought  to  look,  and  the  other  as  I  do  look. 

"  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER." 

Chandos  Fulton  relates  that  he  was  taken  by  a  mutual 
friend  to  call  on  Mr.  Beecher,  and  see  his  collection  of 
engravings,  when  he  lived  in  his  home  on  the  Heights. 
The  stories  he  had  heard  in  childhood,  in  his  Southern 
home,  of  Mr.  Beecher  strongly  prejudiced  him,  and  he 
determined  to  have  little  to  say  to  him.  Mr.  Beecher, 
however,  was  so  cordial  and  affable,  the  introducer  being 
an  esteemed  friend,  that  the  Southerner's  predilections 
soon  vanished,  and  he  observed,  "  Oh,  Mr.  Beecher,  if  the 
Southern  people  only  knew  you,  you  would  have  many 
friends  there."  Mr.  Beecher,  who  had  just  returned  from 
his  first  Southern  lecturing-tour,  responded,  "  I  wish  I 
could  be  the  cement  for  a  reunited  North  and  South." 

Fulton  was  then  "a  pale-faced  stripling,  and  the  conver- 
sation turning  on  the  physique,  Mr.  Beecher,  glancing  at 


MR.  BEECHER'H  RESIDENCE.  BROOKLYN,  N.  Y.-THE  HOUSE 
IN  WHICH  HE  DIED. 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  $11 

the  slender  waist  of  his  guest,  laughingly  exclaimed,  "Ad- 
ministrative men  need  good  stomachs.  The  stomach  is 
the  same  to  the  man  that  the  boiler  is  to  the  locomotive. 
See  what  large,  rotund  boilers  the  locomotives  require 
to  haul  trains  over  the  mountains  here,  because  great 
work  is  required  of  them.  They  couldn't  do  their  work 
without  great,  big  boilers.  A  man  needs  a  good  corpora- 
tion to  do  much  sustained,  active,  great  work." 

The  conversation  was  interrupted  by  a  parade  of  the  . 
Plymouth  Sunday-school,  which  Mr.  Beecher  reviewed* 
from  his  front  steps.  Each  child  was  .provided  with  a 
large  bouquet  of  roses,  which  was  thrown  to  Mr.  Beecher, 
and  by  the  time  the  procession  had  passed  he  stood  knee- 
deep  in  a  pile  of  fragrant  roses.  In  showing  his  engrav- 
ings to  his  visitor  Mr.  Beecher  evinced  an  artist's  enthu- 
siasm in  his  appreciation. 

Mrs.  M.  H.  Fiske  tells  the  following  anecdote  :  Some 
years  ago,  shortly  after  the  great  Brooklyn  trial,  I  took 
an  early  morning  train  for  Pittsburg,  and  to  my  satisfac- 
tion the  occupant  of  the  next  chair  proved  to  be  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  Notwithstanding  a  dozen  attempts  made 
by  passengers  to  enter  into  conversation,  he  dozed  until 
nearly  noon,  and  then,  though  pleasant  to  those  who  from 
time  to  time  gathered  about,  conversation  was  confined 
to  his  questioners  ;  he  took  very  little  part  in  it. 

There  was  a  solid-looking  old  fellow  opposite,  and  he 
fell  to  talking  to  me  of  a  very  dreadful  sentence  he  was 


512      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

reading  about  that  had  just  been  passed  on  some  crimi- 
nal. The  man  was  to  be  confined  in  a  prison  for  a  year ; 
at  the  end  of  the  year  he  was  to  be  taken  out  and 
hanged. 

"  It's  something  horrible  to  think  of  that  man  living  a 
year  with  certain  death  hanging  over,"  said  the  stranger. 

"  We're  in  the  same  boat,"  said  I.  "  Perhaps  our  sen- 
tence will  take  effect  in  less  than  a  year.  There's  many 
a  person  on  board  this  train  who  hasn't  twelve  months' 
>  imprisonment  to  serve." 

Mr.  Beecher  swung  around  in  his  chair. 

"  No  doubt  about  that,"  said  he.  "  And  probably  that 
criminal  will  give  as  little  heed  to  the  end  as  we  do,  until 
the  months  narrow  down  and  the  very  scaffold  is  in  sight." 

The  conversation  became  interesting.  Mr.  Beecher 
said  he  questioned  the  wisdom  of  granting  that  man's 
prayer  who  said,  "  Oh,  Lord,  let  me  know  my  end." 
We  discussed  capital  punishment,  and  about  all  the  great 
questions  of  the  day,  when,  to  my  horror  and  utter  as- 
tonishment, the  old  man  said  :  "  This  Beecher  business 
is  an  unfortunate  affair.  What's  your  opinion  of  its  effect 
on  the  Church  ?  " 

I  don't  know  which  of  us  got  the  worst  of  that  blow. 
We  both  fairly  staggered.  I  looked  in  the  face  of  the 
well-meaning,  innocent  old  questioner,  and  then  the  fun 
of  the  thing  struck  me,  and  I  burst  out  laughing.  Mr. 
Beecher  was  amused  and  perplexed,  so  I  said  : 


REMINISCENCES   AND    ANECDOTES.  513 

"  Haven't  you  read  the  conditions  on  which  this  Pan- 
Handle  road  issues  tickets  ?  " 

"  Why,  no." 

"  It  expressly  states  that  a  ticket  is  forfeited  if  anyone 
holding  it  converses  about  the  Beecher  case." 

"  I've  heard  they  put  up  such  notices  in  factories — it 
led  to  so  much  discussion,"  laughed  the  old  man. 

"  And  it's  specially  objectionable  in  railway  trains," 
said  I. 

Mr.  Beecher  was  looking  at  a  Philadelphia  paper  with 
a  not  wholly  pleased  smile  on  his  face. 

"  I  am  afraid  the  artists  of  country  journals  are  not 
very  successful  in  their  portraits,"  said  he,  as  he  laid  it 
down,  with  an  expressive  glance  at  me. 

Then  things  went  on  very  pleasantly  until  the  train 
stopped  for  dinner,  and  a  hungry  looking  minister  came 
in  from  another  car,  straightened  up  before  us  and  sung 
out,  in  a  hymn-book  voice : 

"  Well,  Brother  Beecher,  will  you  go  out  and  try  this 
place  ?  " 

And  Brother  Beecher  replied  that  he  would  like  to 
shake  the  cramps  out  of  his  legs  by  a  turn  on  the  plat- 
form, but  he  had  a  painful  recollection  of  that  refresh- 
ment-room as  containing  more  mediaeval  sandwiches  and 
prehistoric  pie  than  any  other  on  the  road. 

Our  poor  companion  was  almost  paralyzed  at  men- 
tion of  the  name.  I  saw  him  give  a  hasty  but  en- 


5  H      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

lightened  glance  at  the  big  gray  mane  and  florid  face  of 
H.  W.  B. 

When  the  two  ministers  left  the  cars,  in  a  despairing 
tone  the  patriot  across  the  way  said  : 

"  I  do  believe  that's  Beecher  himself." 

"  It  certainly  is,"  responded  I.  The  old  fellow  mut- 
tered something  about  a  smoke,  got  up,  took  all  his  bag- 
gage and  went  to  some  remote  car  to  finish  his  journey 
alone. 

After  Mr.  Beecher  came  back  he  said : 

"  I  wouldn't  have  believed  that  outside  a  blind  asylum 
such  an  incident  as  that  could  have  occurred." 

Then  we  fell  to  talking  of  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  and 
the  play  and  .the  people  who  played  in  it,  and  he  told 
me  of  meeting  some  old  actor  and  asking  him  if  he  ever 
played  in  "  Uncle  Tom,"  and  the  old  fakir  replying  that 
he  had  done  "  everything  in  it  but  Eva  and  the  cake  of 
ice  that  Eliza  escaped  on." 

"  They  are  a  large-hearted,  great-souled  people  as  a 
class,"  said  he  of  actors.  "  I  question  if  there  are  any 
happier  persons  in  the  world  than  those  in  the  theatrical 
profession.  '  All  the  world's  a  stage,'  and  I  clasp  hands 
with  my  fellow-actors  as  often  as  I  can." 

And  he  certainly  did.  I  remember  Ellen  Terry  showed 
me  a  strange  old  aqua-marine  ring  he  gave  her,  and  she 
told  me  what  a  charming  Sunday  Mr.  Irving  and  she 
had  spent  at  the  parsonage  in  Brooklyn. 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  $1$ 

At  a  New  England  dinner  in  Boston  Mr.  Beecher 
heard  Nat  Goodwin  in  some  imitations,  and  was  de- 
lighted with  him.  Meeting  him  afterward  at  a  hotel  in 
the  West,  Nat  told  him  a  story  of  some  New  York  cler- 
gyman, unconsciously  imitating  the  voice  and  manner- 
isms of  the  gentleman. 

"  Give  me  an  imitation  of  myself,"  said  Beecher. 
"  Why,  peculiarities  I  have  never  noticed  I  recognize  in 
your  imitations.  I'd  really  like  to  hear  my  own  defects 
so  voiced  that  I  might  remedy  them." 

But  as  Nat  would  never  do  Irving  for  Irving,  so  he 
didn't  treat  Beecher  to  Beecher. 

The  great  orator  had  a  marvellous  memory.  Ten  years 
after  that  ride  to  Pittsburg,  although  I  had  met  him 
many  times,  we  had  never  discussed  the  funny  old  man 
of  the  train.  But  when  Kl under  gave  a  big  flower-show 
at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  I  had  seen  almost 
everyone  turn  to  take  a  second  look  at  Beecher,  when  of 
a  sudden  a  couple  of  men  halted  near  us,  and  one  said 
audibly  :  "  Which  one  is  Beecher  ?  where  is  Beecher  ?  " 

Mr.  Beecher  laughed  and  turned  to  me  and  said  : 

"  That  old  man's  got  back  from  Pittsburg,"  showing 
plainly  that  the  ten-year-old  incident  was  un forgotten  by 
him. 

"  I  knew  I  should  meet  you  here,"  said  an  old  lady  to 
him.  "  I  never  went  to  a  flower-show  in  my  life  that  I 
did  not  find  you  there  before  me." 


5l6      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

"I'm  like  all  the  other  old  ladies  in  my  love  for 
flowers,"  said  he. 

As  an  Irishman  remarked  of  his  dead  friend,  "  How  he 
would  have  enjoyed  his  funeral  if  he  had  lived." 

Another  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Beecher  says  that  he 
occasionally  seemed  to  lose  confidence  in  himself.  "  Time 
and  again,"  said  this  friend,  "he  has  told  me  that  when 
before  an  audience  at  some  public  meeting,  and  while 
awaiting  his  turn  to  speak,  he  was  often  almost  on  the 
point  of  getting  up  and  going  out.  '  As  I  listened  to  one 
and  another  speaker  address  the  meeting,'  he  used  to  say, 
'  I  would  think,  my  goodness,  I  never  can  make  such 
speeches  as  those  :  I'd  better  leave  here  at  once.'  But 
when  he  was  once  on  his  feet  all  these  feelings  vanished, 
of  course,  and  he  felt  completely  at  ease.  He  was  al- 
ways subject  to  these  times  of  self-depreciation  both  in 
and  out  of  the  pulpit.  When  he  first  came  to  Brooklyn 
he  used  to  go  round  the  back  streets  just  to  avoid  meet- 
ing people  whom  he  might  know.  He  combined  with 
his  wonderful  vigor  and  boldness  the  shrinking  timidity 
of  a  school-girl." 

Of  Mr.  Beecher's  absent-mindedness,  Dr.  Searle,  his 
physician,  told  this  story :  "  Mrs.  Searle  was  standing  at 
the  parlor  window  one  day,  when  she  noticed  Mr. 
Beecher  go  up  Mr.  Raymond's  stoop,  over  the  way,  and 
ring  the  bell.  Before  it  was  answered  he  came  down 
the  steps,  and  continued  on  his  way  up  the  street.  See- 


REMINISCENCES   AND   ANECDOTES.  5 1/ 

ing  Mrs.  Searle  he  crossed  over,  and  with  a  smile  said  : 
'  Say,  can  you  tell  me  where  I  am  going  this  after- 
noon ? ' 

"  '  Why,  you  are  going  to  baptize  Mr.  Howard's  child 
to-day,  are  you  not  ?  ' 

" «  That's  it,  that's  just  it,'  he  replied,  'but  for  the  life 
of  me  I  couldn't  recall  the  fact.' 

"  Another  instance  I  recollect,"  continued  the  doctor, 
"  happened  at  his  house.  I  was  there  at  dinner.  Major 
Pond,  who  was  also  present,  spoke  about  a  concert  that 
was  to  be  held  in  New  York  that  evening.  Mr.  Beecher 
said  he  would  like  to  attend  it  with  him.  '  But  you 
can't  go,'  said  Mrs.  Beecher  to  him, '  you  have  an  engage- 
ment for  to-night.'  '  Oh,  no,  I  haven't,'  he  rejoined,  '  I 
am  free  to-night,  and  I  think  I'll  go  over  to  the  concert.' 
While  she  was  trying  to  convince  him  that  he  really  had 
some  other  matter  on  hand  a  carriage  drove  up  to  take 
him  to  Hoboken,  where  he  was  booked  for  a  lecture." 

In  reference  to  Mr.  Beecher's  memory,  the  doctor 
added  :  "  It  was  marvellously  poor.  About  the  only 
thing  that  he  could  remember,  he  used  to  say,  was  the 
list  of  prepositions  that  govern  the  ablative  case  in  Latin. 
These  he  could  rattle  off  like  sixty,  and  did  so  fre- 
quently." 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

HIS    ILLNESS    AND    DEATH. 

Mr.  Beecher's  Visit  to  England  in  1886. — Declines  to  Interfere  in  Eng- 
lish Politics. — Preaching  and  Lecturing. — Declines  a  Reception  on 
Returning  Home. — His  Last  Sermon  in  Plymouth  Church. — The 
Fatal  Stroke  of  Apoplexy. — How  the  News  was  Received. — Incidents 
of  His  Illness. — Sinking  Steadily. — His  Death  on  Tuesday,  March 
nth. — Sympathy  for  the  Family. — Private  Service  at  the  House. — 
A  Public  Funeral  without  Crape. — Floral  Decorations. — Lying  in 
State. — Services  Simultaneously  in  Five  Churches. — Testimony  of  a 
Hebrew. — The  Closing  Ceremony. — Laid  at  Rest. 

IN  1886  Mr.  Beecher  visited  England  for  the  third  time, 
partly  for  rest  and  change  of  scene,  and  partly  to  fulfil 
numerous  lecture-engagements.  He  was  accompanied 
by  Mrs.  Beecher  and  Major  Pond,  and  sailed  on  June 
1 9th  on  the  Cunard  steamship  Etruria.  At  that  time 
all  England  was  ablaze  with  the  national  elections.  It 
was  a  question  whether  Gladstone  and  Parnell  should 
control,  or  whether  Home  Rule  should  go  to  the  wall'. 
The  period  was  a  critical  one.  Everybody  knew  in  what 
direction  Mr.  Beecher's  sympathies  tended,  and  there 
was  an  expectation  that  when  he  reached  the  other  side 
there  would  be  something  in  the  nature  of  a  repetition  of 
his  war-time  triumphs  over  English  prejudice.  There 


HIS   ILLNESS   AND   DEATH.  519 

was  some  disappointment  on  this  side,  therefore,  when 
he  failed  to  realize  the  expectations  of  some  of  the  folks 
who  were  hopeful  that  he  would  work  toward  the  good 
of  Ireland. 

On  arriving  at  Liverpool  he  found  telegrams  and  let- 
ters awaiting  him,  asking  his  attendance  at  the  Home 
Rule  meetings  that  were  then  being  held  throughout  the 
land.  He  was  compelled  to  ignore  them  all.  Delegation 
after  delegation  waited  upon  him  to  urge  his  presence  at 
this,  that,  or  the  other  place  throughout  the  United  King- 
dom, where  Gladstone's  policy  was  to  be  upheld,  but  to 
all  of  them  Mr.  Beecher  returned,  in  substance,  this  an- 
swer : 

"  I  am  here  simply  as  an  American  citizen.  Whatever 
may  be  my  personal  feeling  in  this  matter,  I  am  debarred 
just  now  from  thrusting  my  views  upon  the  voters  of  the 
country.  From  an  international  stand-point  it  would  not 
be  courteous,  and  from  my  stand-point  it  would  be  im- 
pertinent." 

At  the  same  time  he  could  not  restrain  himself  en- 
tirely. His  sympathies  were  so  thoroughly  aroused  in 
the  cause  of  the  Irish  people,  which  was  to  him  broader 
than  the  mere  question  of  sectionalism,  that  he  was  per- 
force embroiled  to  some  extent  in  the  contest.  He  de- 
layed his  departure  to  London  for  three  days  in  order  to 
be  present  at  Gladstone's  closing  address  in  the  campaign, 
at  Henglar's  Circus,  Liverpool.  The  "  two  grand  old 


520      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

men  "  met  in  the  ante-room  at  that  meeting,  and  when 
they  went  upon  the  platform  there  were  almost  as  many 
and  as  enthusiastic  cheers  for  Beecher  as  there  were  for 
the  latter-day  industrial  liberator.  Despite  the  urgent 
calls  for  some  utterance  from  the  man  who,  a  quarter  of  a 
century  before,  had  quelled  the  pro-Southern  Liverpool 
mobs  and  brought  them  to  reason,  Mr.  Beecher  would 
say  nothing,  adhering  to  his  belief  that  at  that  time  it  was 
not  fitting  that  there  should  be  any  American  interfer- 
ence. 

For  a  month  he  stopped  in  London.  His  social  recep- 
tion there  was  of  the  most  emphatic  and  flattering  de- 
scription. He  lectured  extensively,  being  greeted  every- 
where with  crowded  houses ;  and  after  a  four  months' 
absence,  returned  home  and  was  received  with  open  arms 
by  a  people  who  cherished  him  as  a  man  of  large  heart, 
great  brain,  and  large  manhood. 

When  he  arrived  there  was  some  talk  of  a  reception  by 
his  church,  which  he  discouraged,  and  the  Common 
Council  of  Brooklyn  tendered  him  a  public  reception. 
This,  also,  he  declined,  with  expressions  of  abundant  ap- 
preciation of  the  honor  offered  him.  He  said  that,  while 
he  was  pleased  and  grateful  that  his  fellow-citizens  held 
him  in  high  esteem,  he  dreaded  going  through  the  ordeal 
of  sitting  during  a  whole  evening  while  his  praises  were 
being  spoken,  which  he  presumed  would  be  the  form  the 
reception  would  take.  But  aside  from  that,  and  more 


HIS   ILLNESS   AND   DEATH.  $21 

decisive  in  the  matter,  was  his  reluctance  to  accept  a 
demonstration  of  the  kind  proposed  at  the  very  time 
when  the  Church  of  the  Pilgrims  was  celebrating  the 
fortieth  anniversary  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs'  pas- 
torate. He  said  that  Dr.  Storrs  was  justly  entitled  to 
great  honor,  and  that  it  would  be  unseemly  for  another 
minister  in  his  own  denomination  to  consent  to  a  recep- 
tion to  himself  which  might  even  seem  to  be  intended  to 
divide  public  attention. 

While  he  was  abroad  he  wrote  as  follows  to  an  old 
friend  in  Brooklyn : 

"  I  want  to  come  home.  I  have  wandered  enough.  I 
cannot  say  I  have  rested  enough,  for  I  am  kept  very  busy. 
True,  I  was  never  in  better  health  and  vigor,  and  am  do- 
ing my  work  easily.  I  do  not  think  I  shall  come  back 
jaded.  Yet  I  long  every  year  to  lay  down  my  tasks  and 
depart.  It  is  not  a  judgment  formed  on  reasonable 
grounds.  It  is  simply  a  quiet  longing  of  the  spirit,  a 
brooding  desire  to  be  through  with  my  work,  although  I 
am  willing  to  go  on — if  need  be." 

After  his  return  Mr.  Beecher  was  occupied  in  his  usual 
manner,  in  lecturing  and  the  work  of  the  Church,  and  also 
in  writing  the  second  volume  of  the  "  Life  of  Christ."  In 
addition  he  wrote  weekly  letters  for  a  newspaper  syndi- 
cate, and  prepared  some  magazine  and  other  miscellaneous 
articles.  Certainly  he  had  few  if  any  idle  moments. 

His  last  sermon  was  delivered  in   Plymouth  Church 


522      LTFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

Sunday  evening,  February  27,  1887,  from  the  text,  Luke 
xvi.  4,  the  first  clause :  "  I  am  resolved  what  to  do." 

The  following  extracts  from  this  sermon  will  be  read 
with  interest  in  view  of  the  circumstances  of  their  utter- 
ance : 

"  The  unjust  steward  had  been  accused,  and  rightfully, 
of  betraying  his  trust  and  wasting  that  committed  to 
him.  His  master  called  him  to  an  account,  and  he  was 
satisfied  that  the  end  had  come;  and  he  communed  with 
himself,  and  as  the  result  of  that,  and  looking  over  all 
the  circumstances,  he  said,  '  I  am  resolved  what  to  do/ 

"  What  he  resolved  to  do  was  not  very  honest,  but  it 
was  very  shrewd.  He  resolved  to  make  friends  of  all  the 
debtors  of  his  lord.  He  called  them  up  and  settled  with 
them  in  such  a  way  as  to  lay  them  under  obligations — 
gratitude  to  Him.  And  so,  although  he  and  they  cheated 
the  master,  he  made  his  own  nest  warm  and  the  master 
praised  him — not  Jesus,  but  the  man  that  owned  the 
property  is  the  one.  When  he  heard  of  it  he  said  to  him- 
self :  '  Well,  that  is  shrewd  ;  that  is  cunning ;  that  is  wise,' 
and  the  comment  on  it  is  :  Children  of  this  world  are 
wiser  than  the  children  of  light ;  that  is  to  say,  men  who 
are  acting  in  worldly  reasons,  for  worldly  reasons,  are  very 
much  wiser  than  the  men  becoming  good  from  the  high- 
est moral  considerations.  But  that  that  they  have  se- 
lected is  simply  this  :  '  I  am  resolved  what  to  do.' 

"  What,  then,  is  the  nature  of  a  resolution — what  is  the 


MB.  BEECHER'S  CHURCH,  BROOKLYN.  N.  Y.,  CALLED  PLYMOUTH 
CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 


HIS   ILLNESS   AND   DEATH.  52$ 

scope  of  it,  the  potency  ?  A  resolution  is  a  purpose  in 
so  far  as  simple  things,  uncompounded,  incomplex,  are 
concerned.  A  resolution  may  be  executed  immediately, 
without  loss  of  time;  indeed,  the  greatest  number  of 
resolutions  are  those  which,  like  the  stroke  of  the  ham- 
mer or  the  explosion  of  the  gun,  are  almost  without  any 
appreciable  interlapse  of  time.  '  I  am  resolved  what  to 
do.'  Natural  resolutions:  At  the  cry  of  fire  the  man 
instantly  looks  out  to  see  what  to  do ;  at  the  call  of  a 
man  to  step  to  the  door  and  see  a  stranger  or  a  friend, 
he  resolves  to  do  it ;  although  the  resolution  is  latent  in 
such  a  sense  by  repetition,  he  is  not  conscious  of  making 
up  his  mind. 

"  There  are  a  good  many  people  who  don't  seem  ever 
to  have  a  resolution  ;  they  are  like  sieves — all  their 
thoughts  run  through  and  are  wasted  ;  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  diffidence  about  them.  There  are  some  men  whose 
thoughts  are  like  the  ratchet-wheel,  the  wheel  that  has, 
notch  by  notch,  to  hold  what  it  has  got ;  and  there  are  a 
great  many  whose  thoughts  are  like  thistle-downs,  that 
are  going  everywhere,  and  don't  know  that  they  are 
going  anywhere,  and  are  subject  to  the  mutations  of  the 
wind.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  difference — need  be — to 
win  men  to  form  resolutions,  sometimes,  of  a  strong  nat- 
ure and  a  sterling,  strong  purpose  ;  when  once  they  have 
resolved  never  to  flinch,  they  never  know  in  any  hour  a 
downsliding ;  they  may  be  less  active  at  one  time  than 


526      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

another,  but  they  don't  turn  back.  Once  having  put 
their  hand  to  the  plough,  they  don't  look  back  again. 
But  then  there  are  those  that  have  the  same  policy  reso- 
lution, but  they  are  made  of  different  stuff ;  it  slides 
away;  they  forgot  it ;  they  are  not  stiff  enough  to  stand 
up  against  the  wind,  it  may  be,  that  shall  come  upon 
them. 

"  Did  you  ever  undertake  to  take  apart  a  watch  ? 
That  is  very  easy.  Did  you  ever  undertake  to  put  it 
together  again  ?  That  is  not  so  easy.  You  don't  know 
which  screw  goes  in  which  hole  ;  you  don't  know  exactly 
which  wheel  goes  in  first ;  but  one  thing  is  perfectly  cer- 
tain, and  that  is  that  nothing  else  will  fit  together  but 
that  of  which  the  watch  was  made,  and  each  wheel  was 
destined  to  one  place  and  to  one  avocation,  and  if  you 
can  bring  them  together,  according  to  the  intent  of  the 
maker,  it  will  perform,  and  otherwise  it  will  not.  Now, 
a  man  was  built  with  a  great  deal  more  care  than  ever  a 
watch  was.  He  has  definite  relations  to  himself.  A 
man  was  made  to  live  with  men,  and  there  is  only  one 
way  and  one  principle  on  which  men  can  live  together — 
kindness,  love.  .  .  .  True  Christianity  means  living 
in  those  relations  for  which  we  were  created — harmoniza- 
tion of  ourselves,  harmonization  of  our  relations  to  our 
fellow-men,  harmonization  of  our  relation  to  the  invisible 
future. 


HIS   ILLNESS   AND   DEATH.  527 

"  Are  you,  then,  resolved  at  once  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian ?  Can  I  be  a  Christian  at  once  ?  In  one  sense,  no ; 
in  another  sense,  yes.  Nobody  ever  learned  a  trade  at  a 
blow,  but  he  can  begin  this  day ;  no  man  ever  became  a 
scholar  by  a  resolution,  but  he  never  can  become  one 
without  a  resolution ;  it  is  a  complex  one  and  a  con- 
stantly repeating  one,  ancillary  resolutions  upholding  the 
main  one.  Are  you  willing  to  take  the  Bible  just  as  a 
ship-master  takes  the  chart?  When  he  leaves  the  last 
shore-light  and  takes  his  direction  he  never  says,  '  Read 
me  a  direction  or  two  of  the  sailing-directions,  and  then 
read  me  the  draughtings  inside  again  and  then  again.' 
They  have  no  relations  at  all  to  his  course,  to  his  actual 
sailing ;  but  he  is  not  going  to  read  so  many  parts  of  his 
chart  and  of  his  sailing-directions.  Why,  no  ;  he  lays  out 
his  voyage  from  the  beginning  and  every  day  he  takes 
observations,  and  then  he  checks  down  on  the  chart  just 
where  he  is.  At  noon  to-morrow  he  takes  another  ob- 
servation ;  not  because  there  is  any  need  of  reading  his 
chart,  in  reading  any  book  on  navigation  ;  not  because 
he  is  studying  astronomy  for  the  sake  of  anything  that  is 
in  astronomy.  He  has  got  a  definite  purpose  in  life  ; 
after  which  he  sells  his  astronomy,  and  after  which  he 
sells  his  books,  or  those  which  lay  his  course.  Are 
you  willing  to  begin  a  Christian  course  and  voyage  by 
going  to  the  Word  of  God  to  ascertain  exactly  what  is 
expected  of  you,  both  what  you  are  to  reject  and  what 


528      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF    HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

you  are  to  adopt  ?  That  is  sensible,  that  is  right  resolv- 
ing, according  to  a  practical  basis  and  resolution.  Are 
there  any  of  you  that  are  willing  to  make  that  resolve  ? 
For  a  little  while  it  will  be  a  troublesome  thing,  for  a 
little  while ;  and  then  easier  and  easier,  with  remuneration 
and  exhilaration  and  joy  and  final  victory." 

On  the  morning  of  Sunday,  March  6,  1887,  the  news- 
papers throughout  the  country  spread  before  their  readers 
the  startling  intelligence  that  Mr.  Beecher  was  lying  at 
the  point  of  death.  His  physicians  had  long  feared  an 
apoplectic  stroke,  and  it  came  on  Saturday,  March 
5th ;  there  were  a  few  preliminary  symptoms,  running 
through  Thursday  and  Friday,  but  no  one  recognized 
in  them  anything  but  a  trifling  illness,  and  the  blow  came 
at  last  with  the  force  and  horror  of  an  unexpected  thun- 
derbolt. He  had  been  ill  since  Thursday.  He  had 
been  in  New  York  the  greater  part  of  the  day  and  went 
to  his  son's  house  in  Brooklyn  late  in  the  afternoon  with 
a  feeling  of  nausea.  By  the  time  he  reached  the  house, 
No.  124  Hicks  Street,  he  seemed  quite  prostrated.  Dr. 
W.  S.  Searle,  who  has  been  his  family  physician  for 
years,  was  summoned.  In  addition  to  the  nausea  and 
headache,  the  doctor  found  Mr.  Beecher  suffering  from  a 
soreness  about  the  throat  and  chest  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  feared  an  attack  of  pneumonia.  These  symptoms 
quickly  passed  away  and  the  patient  grew  better;  but 
when  he  went  to  bed  he  complained  of  a  severe  pain  in 


HIS   ILLNESS   AND    DEATH.  529 

his  head.  After  a  while  he  dropped  off  to  sleep,  but 
awoke  at  intervals  all  through  the  night. 

After  daylight  he  began  to  improve,  and  by  the  time 
the  doctor  called  he  was  better.  Through  Friday  his 
condition  was  favorable,  quieting  all  alarm  felt  by  the 
family. 

Saturday  morning  a  sudden  change  for  the  worse  took 
place,  and  of  such  an  alarming  character  that  Dr.  William 
A.  Hammond,  of  New  York,  was  hastily  summoned.  He 
and  Dr.  Searle  made  an  examination  and  declared  that 
Mr.  Beecher  was  suffering  from  an  apoplectic  attack.  He 
lay  in  a  semi-comatose  condition,  but  neither  conscious- 
ness nor  his  unfailing  sense  of  humor  had  quite  forsaken 
him. 

"  Can  you  raise  your  arm,  Mr.  Beecher  ?  "  asked  Dr. 
Hammond. 

"  Yes,  I  guess  so,"  came  the  low  reply. 

"  How  high  can  you  raise  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  high  enough  to  hit  you,  doctor,"  said  the 
clergyman,  with  a  feeble  smile. 

All  the  family  was  summoned  as  soon  as  the  doctors 
pronounced  the  condition  of  Mr.  Beecher  dangerous. 
During  Sunday  and  Monday  he  continued  to  sink  slowly 
but  surely,  and  his  death  occurred  in  the  forenoon  of 
Tuesday,  the  8th.  About  three  in  the  morning  of  that 
day  Mr.  Beecher  began  to  fail  rapidly,  and  at  half-past 

four  the  doctor  issued  a  bulletin  saying  that  the  end  was 
22* 


530      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

approaching.  There  was  a  brief  rally  an  hour  later,  but 
at  half-past  seven  the  sinking  was  renewed,  and  the  fact 
of  speedy  death  was  known  to  be  inevitable.  In  another 
hour  Mr.  Beecher  was  dying.  The  pulse  grew  more  and 
more  feeble,  the  breathing  became  irregular  and  shallow, 
there  was  an  accumulation  of  mucus  in  the  throat,  and 
the  respiration  became  stertorous.  The  pulse  flickered 
and  stopped,  the  breathing  grew  fainter  and  died  away, 
the  mouth  closed,  the  muscles  relaxed,  and  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  was  dead  ! 

His  death  was  what  he  had  wished  for,  painless,  and 
not  preceded  by  a  long  illness.  He  had  often  expressed 
the  hope  that  he  would  die  suddenly,  and  in  the  midst 
of  work,  and  he  had  no  sympathy  with  the  prayer  in  the 
Episcopal  service  which  asks  that  we  may  be  delivered 
from  sudden  death. 

Not  since  the  death  of  General  Grant  has  the  demise 
of  any  man  touched  the  popular  heart  in  America  as  did 
,that  of  Mr.  Beecher.  Letters  and  telegrams  of  condo- 
lence came  to  Mrs.  Beecher  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  there  were  several  cablegrams  from  England  to  the 
same  purpose.  In  Brooklyn  and  New  York  flags  were 
at  half-mast  all  over  those  cities,  and  many  religious, 
political,  and  social  organizations  held  special  meetings 
to  pass  resolutions  of  sorrow.  The  letters  and  resolutions 
that  reached  the  mourning  family  would  fill  a  volume. 
All  breathed  the  same  sentiment,  that  a  great  man,  a 


HIS   ILLNESS   AND   DEATH.  531 

power  in  the  nation  and  the  world,  had  been  laid  low, 
and  the  event  had  stricken  the  whole  country  with 
grief. 

Private  funeral  services  were  held  at  the  house  on 
Thursday,  March  roth,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  H.  Hall,  of 
Holy  Trinity  Church,  Brooklyn,  officiating.  When  Mr. 
Beecher's  eldest  sister,  Catharine,  went  to  live  with  her 
brother,  Rev.  Thomas  K.  Beecher,  in  Elmira,  N.  Y., 
and  died  there,  Dr.  Hall  wrote  to  Mr.  Beecher  saying 
that,  as  Miss  Beecher  had  at  one  time  been  a  member  of 
his  church,  he  would  be  glad  to  go  to  Elmira  and  con- 
duct the  funeral  services.  Mr.  Beecher  replied,  thanking 
him,  and  said  it  would  not  be  necessary ;  "  but,"  he 
added,  "  I  wish  now  to  mention  what  I  have  already 
told  my  family  and  friends,  and  I  might  as  well  tell  it  to 
you.  It  is  that  you  shall  have  charge  of  my  funeral  if  I 
should  go  before  you.  That  you  shall  be  present  is  my 
hope  and  desire." 

After  the  private  service,  the  body  was  taken  to  Ply- 
mouth Church,  where  it  lay  in  state  during  the  rest  of 
the  day  and  till  late  in  the  evening.  In  compliance  with 
Mr.  Beecher's  well-known  desire,  the  church  was  deco- 
rated with  flowers  instead  of  the  customary  drapery  of 
black.  The  huge  audience-room  was  transformed  into  a 
bower  of  roses  and  smilax  and  evergreens.  The  reading- 
desk  and  the  chair  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  were  set 
on  either  side  of  the  platform.  Mrs.  Susan  Howard,  the 


532      LIFE  AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

friend  of  half  a  century,  who  for  years  had  furnished  the 
decoration  of  the  desk  on  festal  occasions,  had  that  his- 
torical object  swathed  in  pink  and  French  roses  and 
vines.  The  stout  chair  where  the  pastor  sat  for  many 
years  was  upholstered  for  Mrs.  S.  V.  White  in  pink  and 
Eucharis  roses,  white  carnations,  and  smilax.  Back  of 
these  pulpit-relics  an  arras  of  flowers  stretched  from  the 
platform-floor  almost  to  the  summit  of  the  giant  organ, 
festoons  of  laurel-rope  stretched  from  chandelier  to  the 
four  corners  of  the  ceiling,  and  a  ball  of  roses  hung  from 
the  former.  The  facade  of  the  gallery  was  bright  with 
potted  plants,  interspersed  with  wreaths  of  laurel.  Ever- 
greens were  around  the  walls  both  above  and  beneath 
the  balcony,  while  under  the  gallery-wall  smilax  and 
flowers  were  also  festooned.  The  front  of  the  church 
outside  was  also  decorated  with  evergreens. 

There  was  an  immense  crowd  waiting  outside  the 
church,  and  when  the  doors  were  opened  for  the  proces- 
sion it  began  immediately.  By  actual  count,  between 
seventy  and  seventy-five  persons  a  minute  got  a  chance  to 
look  at  the  life-like  face  of  the  dead  preacher.  It  is  a 
safe  estimate  to  say  that  at  least  nine-tenths  of  the  line 
was  composed  of  women  and  children.  Many  of  the 
women  held  handkerchiefs  to  their  eyes,  and  not  a  few 
were  led  up  to  the  casket  sobbing  and  in  tears.  Strong 
men  wept,  and  hurried  by  as  if  afraid  that  their  emotions 
would  overcome  them.  It  was  estimated  that  fully 


HIS   ILLNESS  AND   DEATH.  533 

eighty  thousand  people  passed  the  coffin  of  Mr.  Beecher 
during  the  hours  of  Thursday  and  Friday  when  the  pub- 
lic was  admitted. 

The  public  funeral  was  on  Friday,  the  I  ith,  Dr.  Hall 
paying  an  admirable  tribute  to  his  deceased  friend,  which 
was  heard  by  an  audience  that  filled  every  inch  of  sitting 
or  standing  room  in  the  vast  edifice.  Simultaneously 
with  this  service  there  were  services  in  four  other  churches 
of  Brooklyn,  a  circumstance  without  a  parallel  in  the  his- 
tory of  that  city.  These  additional  services  were  as  fol- 
lows :  First  Baptist  Church,  by  Rev.  T.  De  Witt  Talmage ; 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  by  Rev.  C.  Cuthbert  Hall  ; 
Church  of  the  Saviour,  by  Rev.  W.  T.  Dixon  (colored)  ; 
and  Sands  Street  Methodist  Church,  by  Rev.  Alexander 
McLean.  All  the  clergymen  spoke  eloquently  in  honor 
of  Mr.  Beecher,  and  dwelt  earnestly  upon  the  great  work 
he  had  performed  in  his  exceedingly  active  life.  In  the 
Sands  Street  Church,  Rabbi  Harrison  spoke  of  the  work 
of  Mr.  Beecher  to  secure  the  toleration  of  the  Hebrew 
race  in  this  and  other  countries,  and  added : 

Men  revered  him  as  they  watched  him  in  his  pulpit,  week  after 
week,  pleading  for  humanity.  All  sects  revered  him,  all  churches 
and  creeds  recognized  in  him  the  incarnation  of  their  best  thoughts. 
He  was  a  hero,  a  moral  and  intellectual  hero,  a  champion  of  the 
poor  and  the  oppressed  of  every  land  and  every  creed.  He  was  a 
protector  of  social  equality,  a  champion  of  religious  tolerance.  He 
stands  at  the  head  of  his  age,  and  his  fame  will  always  remain.  To 


534      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

all  creeds,  to  all  classes,  he  has  been  a  help,  a  succor,  a  light  to 
guide  in  the  darkness. 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  March  I2th,  the  remains 
of  Mr.  Beecher  were  removed  from  Plymouth  Church  to 
the  vault  in  Greenwood  Cemetery.  Only  a  limited 
number  of  persons  accompanied  the  hearse.  Altogether 
there  were  about  fifty  in  the  company,  which  consisted 
of  the  Church  Committee,  the  trustees,  the  deacons,  and 
a  few  prominent  members  of  the  church,  representing 
various  large  family  circles.  All  along  the  route  many 
persons  raised  their  hats  as  it  passed — a  deference  to  the 
dead  common  in  other  countries,  but  not  here.  Arrived 
at  the  cemetery,  the  casket  was  placed  in  a  zinc-lined 
box  and  carried  to  the  receiving  vault,  whose  double 
gates  were  beautifully  decorated  with  flowers.  Rev.  Mr. 
Halliday  offered  a  touching  prayer.  The  casket  was 
placed  in  the  vault,  with  its  decorations  of  palms,  and 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  at  rest. 

It  is  probable  that  the  remains  will  rest  in  the  vault 
for  at  least  a  year,  and  in  the  meantime  the  family  will 
secure  a  burial  plot  in  Greenwood.  It  is  a  fact  not  gen- 
erally known,  that  Mr.  Beecher  had  little  respect  for  the 
bodies  of  the  dead.  He  held  that  the  spirit  was  the  val- 
uable part,  and  when  once  it  had  gone  out  of  the  body 
there  was  little  left  worthy  of  love  or  sympathy.  He 
could  not  understand  the  reason  why  people  visited  cem- 


HIS   ILLNESS   AND   DEATH.  535 

eteries  and  spent  their  tears  above  the  tombs  of  the  dead. 
He  never,  or  seldom,  visited  the  resting-place  of  his  chil- 
dren's remains.  "  I  believe  that  they  are  in  heaven,  not 
in  Greenwood,"  he  would  say.  It  was  this  belief  which 
made  him  so  careless  about  providing  a  plot  for  his  own 
resting-place  and  for  the  widow  and  children  who  would 
come  after  him. 

Had  Mr.  Beecher  lived  until  next  October  to  cele- 
brate the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  ordination  as  a  minis- 
ter, the  fortieth  anniversary  as  Pastor  of  Plymouth 
Church,  and  the  golden  anniversary  of  his  marriage,  he 
would  have  received  a  testimonial  of  a  noteworthy  char- 
acter. President  Cleveland  and  the  members  of  his 
Cabinet,  the  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone,  Lord  Tenny- 
son, and  others  prominent  in  the  literary,  social,  and  re- 
ligious world,  had  agreed  to  unite  in  the  presentation  to 
him  of  letters  and  literary  contributions,  which  were  to 
have  been  presented  to  Mr.  Beecher  at  a  public  meeting, 
to  be  held  in  the  Brooklyn  Academy  of  Music  early  in 
October. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

ESTIMATES  OF   HIS   CHARACTER. 

Tributes  from  Many  Christian  Pulpits. — All  Denominations  Honor  Him. 
— Loss  of  Beecher  Like  the  Removal  of  a  Mountain. — His  Speeches 
in  England  one  Long  Speech. — His  Fervid  Eloquence. — The  Great 
Leader  in  Pulpit  and  Republic. — Who  will  Wear  His  Mantle? — The 
Shakespeai'e  of  the  Christian  Pulpit. — A  Marvellous  Imagination — 
Wonderful  Knowledge  of  Character. — Great  in  the  Life  of  the  Re- 
public.— The  Most  Striking  Figure  of  Our  Time. — The  Incarnation 
of  Love. — A  Part  of  America's  Life. — Tributes  from  the  Hebrews 
of  New  York. — A  Great  Star  Below  the  Horizon. — The  Representa- 
tive of  Democracy  in  the  Pulpit. — The  End. 

ON  the  Sunday  following  Mr.  Beecher's  death  nearly  all 
the  clergymen  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  as  well  as 
many  others  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  without  regard 
to  denominational  differences,  devoted  a  portion  of  their 
discourses  to  the  character  of  this  remarkable  man  and 
his  influence  upon  the  moral  and  religious  world.  Vol- 
umes might  be  compiled  from  these  testimonials,  and 
even  then  the  supply  would  not  be  exhausted.  All  of 
them  bore  tribute  to  Mr.  Beecher's  transcendent  abilities 
as  a  preacher  and  an  orator,  and  as  a  man  who  loved  his 
fellow  man.  In  this,  our  concluding  chapter,  we  have 
only  the  space  for  a  few  brief  selections  from  the  pulpit 
utterances  in  honor  of  his  memory. 


ESTIMATES  OF   HIS   CHARACTER.  537 

Rev.  J.  H.  Chadwick,  the  eloquent  Unitarian  preacher, 
of  Brooklyn,  said  among  other  things  : 

"  The  sense  of  loss  and  vacancy  occasioned  by  the 
death  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  is  common  to  all  people 
of  intelligence  and  thinking  minds  in  the  United  States, 
but  to  us,  who  knew  him  in  our  daily  walks,  the  loss  is 
more  keenly  felt.  He  was  our  foremost  citizen.  He 
has  carried  the  name  of  the  city  everywhere,  and  he  has 
attracted  more  people  to  the  city  than  any  other  man. 
His  life  has  been  one  of  the  hardest  kind  of  work.  His 
work  in  crushing  the  slave  power  is  hardly  less  than  that 
of  the  great  abolitionists,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Wen- 
dell Phillips,  John  Brown,  and  Abraham  Lincoln.  His 
work  in  robbing  religion  of  its  terrors  is  greater  than  that 
of  any  man  the  world  has  ever  produced.  The  loss  of 
Beecher  is  something  like  the  sudden  removal  of  a 
mountain.  There  it  had  been,  year  after  year,  our  child- 
hood's wonder  and  our  manhood's  pride.  To  awake 
some  morning  and  find  the  mountain  gone  is  our  feeling 
in  these  last  days.  But  no  such  loss  can  compare  with 
ours.  He  had  faults,  but  they  were  unique.  He  spoke 
oftener  from  his  emotions  than  from  his  beliefs.  When 
he  came  to  Brooklyn  he  was  advised  to  let  politics 
alone.  Had  they  advised  the  sea  to  leave  the  moon 
alone  they  would  have  been  listened  to  as  much.  No 
other  orator  had  his  power  to  call  upon  men  to  do  and 
suffer  all  things  for  the  right.  Noisy  opposition  was 


538      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

meat  and  drink  to  him.  His  auditors  never  found  him 
nodding.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  said  that  Beecher's 
five  speeches  in  England  were  in  reality  one  long  speech, 
with  its  introduction  in  Manchester  and  its  closing  words 
in  London. 

Rev.  Charles  H.  Eaton,  of  the  Church  of  the  Divine 
Paternity,  New  York,  took  for  his  text  Romans  x.  15  : 
"  How  beautiful  are  the  feet  of  them  that  preach  the 
gospel  of  peace."  In  speaking  of  Mr.  Beecher  he  said  : 
"  His  was  a  noble  character.  His  whole  life  was  spent 
upon  the  broad  ocean  of  humanity.  Mankind  was  his 
study,  and  the  amelioration  of  the  race  his  constant  aim. 
All  that  he  was,  was  due  to  his  ancestry.  He  came  of  a 
sturdy,  honest  stock,  and  inherited  their  virtues.  He- 
redity counted  more  than  country.  While  the  glorious 
climate  of  Connecticut  gave  him  a  vigorous  constitution, 
his  mental  powers  were  inherited  away  back  from  the 
sturdy  blacksmith,  Nathaniel  Beecher,  who  plied  upon 
his  anvil  under  the  very  tree  where  the  celebrated  Dav- 
enport preached  his  first  sermon  in  New  England. 
From  Nathaniel  Beecher  and  his  descendants  down  to 
the  brainy  Lyman  Beecher,  his  distinguished  father, 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  inherited  his  manly  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence, his  love  of  religion,  and  broad  spirit  of  philan- 
thropy. ..."  Greatness  is  derived  in  different  fields 
of  action.  Stephenson's  genius  lay  in  an  invention  ;  Sen- 
eca's in  morals ;  Webster's  in  statesmanship  ;  and  Can- 


ESTIMATES   OF   HIS   CHARACTER.  539 

ning's  in  oratory.  It  was  as  an  orator  that  Beecher 
will  go  down  in  history.  All  that  he  accomplished 
was  through  the  power  of  his  fervid  eloquence.  And 
why  ?  Because  he  dealt  with  great  principles.  He 
dealt  with  the  verities  of  God.  He  removed  the  vail 
which  hid  the  Redeemer  from  mankind.  He  was  un- 
questionably one  of  the  greatest  preachers  of  the  age, 
and  as  a  leader  of  the  masses,  he  had  few  equals." 

"  Mr.  Beecher's  Mantle  and  Who  Will  Wear  Tt,"  was 
the  subject  of  Rev.  N.  B.  Thompson's  address  at  the 
Free  Baptist  Church,  Twenty-fifth  Street,  near  Eighth 
Avenue,  New  York.  "  During  the  past  week,"  said  Mr. 
Thompson,  "the  eyes  of  the  world  have  been  turned  to 
the  city  across  the  river.  For  forty  years  there  lived  in 
Brooklyn  a  man  whose  name  was  a  household  word 
throughout  the  Christian  world.  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
was  the  head  of  the  people,  the  Elijah  of  the  Church. 
We  shall  never  see  his  like  again.  What  Elijah  was  to 
the  other  prophets,  that  man  of  Brooklyn  was  to  the 
modern  Church.  The  mantle  of  our  later  prophet  is 
fluttering  down  from  the  skies,  and  no  one  dares  to  touch 
it  or  lay  hold  upon  it.  And  now  the  question  goes  echo- 
ing through  Christendom  as  to  who  shall  wear  it.  There 
are  many  who  would  be  glad  to  crawl  into  that  mantle. 
But  so  large  was  it  that  it  could  wrap  within  it  nine- 
tenths  of  the  prophets  of  the  present  day  and  have  room 
for  more." 


540      LIFE   AND    WORK   OF   HENRY    WARD   BEECHER. 

"  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  the  Shakespeare  of  the  Chris- 
tian Pulpit,"  was  the  subject  of  Rev.  John  Rhey  Thomp- 
son's discourse  in  the  Washington  Square  M.  E.  Church, 
New  York.  After  reviewing  Mr.  Beecher's  firm  action 
in  the  cause  of  the  emancipation  of  the  negro  slaves  in 
the  South,  the  pastor  narrated  at  length  the  great 
Brooklyn  divine's  work  in  freeing  the  pulpit  from  the 
scholasticism  fastened  upon  it  by  the  Calvinists.  He 
made  the  pulpit,  according  to  Mr.  Thompson,  a  natural 
and  humble  place,  and  taught  that  right  conduct  led  to 
correct  belief,  or,  in  the  words  of  the  Bible,  "  The  pure 
in  heart  shall  see  God." 

"  Shakespeare,"  continued  Mr.  Thompson,  "  was  con- 
sidered the  king  of  English  literature,  and  what  he  is  to 
literature  Henry  Ward  Beecher  is  to  the  Christian 
pulpit.  There  are  many  points  of  similarity  between 
the  two.  The  critics  often  say  that  it  is  impossible  that 
Shakespeare  is  the  author  of  the  works  which  bear  his 
name.  They  ask,  How  is  it  possible  for  a  man  of  his 
limited  opportunities  to  write  '  Hamlet  ? '  It  is  even 
claimed  that  Lord  Bacon  was  the  author  of  the  plays 
ascribed  to  Shakespeare.  So  with  Beecher.  He  also 
was  a  man  of  limited  opportunities.  Both  men  learned 
from  within.  What  other  people  dig  patiently  and 
wearily  for,  they  abstracted  by  intuition,  and  what  the 
one  is  to  his  field,  the  other  is  to  his.  In  reading  De 
Quincey  and  Paine  on  Shakespeare,  one  could  strike  out 


ESTIMATES   OF   HIS   CHARACTER.  541 

the  names  of  the  bard,  and  substituting  Beecher,  find  the 
criticisms  to  apply  equally  well.  Shakespeare  was  a 
man  of  royal  imagination.  Who  denies  a  royal  imagi- 
nation to  Henry  Ward  Beecher  ?  Both  were  true  to 
nature.  Shakespeare  had  a  marvellous  knowledge  of 
character.  Beecher  could  sweep  every  key  in  the  mighty 
organ  of  the  human  soul." 

At  the  Church  of  the  Messiah,  Rev.  Robert  Collyer 
prefaced  his  remarks  by  reading  from  2  Chronicles,  chap- 
ter xxiv.,  verse  16,  "  They  buried  him  among  the  kings 
because  he  had  done  good,  both  toward  God  and  toward 
his  house."  Continuing  he  said  : 

"  Mr.  Beecher's  death  has  touched  the  heart  of  our 
nation  and  moved  it  as  it  was  never  moved  before  by 
the  death  of  one  who  has  filled  a  sacred  office.  No 
nation's  heart  has  been  so  moved  since  Martin  Luther 
died  three  hundred  and  forty  years  ago.  He  was  not 
an  old  man,  for  the  autumn  days  had  hardly  touched 
the  life  that  lay  within.  He  was  still  the  great  leader  in 
the  American  pulpit,  and  I  know  of  no  one  who  was 
greater  in  the  life  of  the  Republic,  and  so  full  of  enthu- 
siasm for  the  work  he  had  to  do.  His  heart  was  open 
and  warm,  and  his  eye  watched  carefully  for  the  light  on 
all  the  wide  horizons,  and  welcomed  it  with  the  gift  and 
grace  of  earlier  years  rather  than  our  later  ones.  Where 
would  you  look  for  the  eagle  glance,  and  the  eager,  open 
heart  more  surely  than  in  the  Plymouth  pulpit.  His 


542      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

laughter  was  blended  with  tears,  and  in  his  quick,  clear 
wit,  born  of  a  man  at  his  best,  there  xstill  were  woven 
threads  of  gold  through  the  warp  and  woof  of  his  public 
discourse  and  his  private  talk.  Those  who  knew  him 
best  wondered  how  little  three  score  and  thirteen  years 
had  abated  the  royal  gift. 

Not  only  did  the  clergymen  of  all  Christian  denomi- 
nations speak  in  his  praise,  but  there  were  words  of  com- 
fort to  his  sorrowing  friends  from  the  Hebrew  syna- 
gogues in  New  York  and  other  cities.  His  love  for 
mankind  included  all  races  and  religions,  and  the 
Hebrews  were  prompt  to  acknowledge  the  services  he 
had  rendered  to  them  on  many  occasions.  At  the  me- 
morial service  in  the  Temple  Emanu-El,  in  New  York, 
the  front  of  the  altar  was  decorated  with  a  magnificent 
portrait  of  Mr.  Beecher,  and  above  it  was  suspended  a 
large  wreath  of  white  flowers.  Rev.  Dr.  Gottheil,  rabbi 
of  the  temple,  spoke  of  Mr.  Beecher's  address  in  that  very 
temple  two  years  before,  on  the  occasion  of  the  memorial 
services  in  honor  of  the  celebrated  Hebrew  philanthro- 
pist, Sir  Moses  Montefiore,  and  read  several  extracts 
from  it.  He  then  delivered  an  affecting  tribute  in  which 
he  said  :  Henry  Ward  Beecher  will  live  in  generations 
to  come,  the  giant  he  was.  It  can  also  be  said  of  him 
as  of  the  old  prophet,  that  '  His  eye  did  not  grow  dim.' 
Such  a  death  is  dying  by  the  kiss  of  the  Almighty.  No 
mortal  man  has  disclosed  the  true  greatness  of  this  coun- 


ESTIMATES   OF   HIS   CHARACTER.  543 

try  as  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  This  typical  American 
was  the  perfect  citizen  of  the  world.  He  disdained  all 
outward  show  and  artificial  authority.  A  great,  brilliant 
star  has  sunk  below  the  horizon,  and  the  American  peo- 
ple are  watching  where  it  has  disappeared,  to  wait — God 
knows  how  long — until  his  return." 

Professor  Felix  Adler,  President  and  leader  of  the  So- 
ciety for  Ethical  Culture,  paid  a  glowing  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  Mr.  Beecher,  closing  as  follows  :  "  He  was  the 
type  of  the  American  democracy  in  the  pulpit.  He  was 
not  a  vain  man  in  the  ordinary  sense,  but  he  was  su- 
premely conscious  of  his  power  :  no  man  ever  more  so 
than  he.  The  secret  of  his  power  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fact,  that  the  American  democracy  beheld  their  qualities 
reflected  in  him  as  a  mirror  so  enlarged  and  enhanced 
that  he  was  pre-eminently  the  American  Democratic 
man,  the  representative  of  American  Democratic  ideas 
in  the  pulpit.  He  rose  above  social  prejudice,  which  is 
worse  than  political  prejudice.  Let  him  pass  to  his  rest 
with  Lincoln,  Sumner,  Phillips,  and  Grant.  'The  great 
war  preacher' — let  that  be  his  just  title  to  enduring 
fame." 

Nothing  can  be  more  appropriate  for  the  closing  page 
of  this  memorial  volume  than  some  of  'Mr.  Beecher's 
utterances  on  the  question  of  death  and  the  future  life. 

"  To  one  who  is  living  aright,  no  death  can  be  sudden, 
and  no  place  unfavorable.  One  step  and  all  roads  meet. 


544      LIFE   AND   WORK   OF   HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

"  Dying  is  the  best  part  of  life  to  one  who  knows  how 
to  live  worthily. 

"When  we  comprehend  the  fulness  of  what  death 
will  do  for  us,  in  all  our  outlook  and  forelock,  dying  is 
triumphing.  Nowhere  is  there  so  fair  a  sight,  so  sweet  a 
prospect,  as  when  a  young  soul  is  passing  away  out  of 
life  and  time  through  the  gate  of  death — the  rosy,  the 
royal,  the  golden,  the  pearly  gate  of  death. 

"  Death  is  as  sweet  as  flowers  are.  It  is  as  blessed  as 
bird-singing  in  spring.  I  never  hear  of  the  death  of  any- 
one who  is  ready  to  die,  that  my  heart  does  not  sing  like 
a  harp.  I  am  sorry  for  those  that  are  left  behind,  but 
not  for  those  who  have  gone  before. 

"  Beat  on,  then,  O  heart,  and  yearn  for  dying.  I  have 
drunk  at  many  a  fountain,  but  thirst  came  again ;  I  have 
fed  at  many  a  bounteous  table,  but  hunger  returned  ;  I 
have  seen  many  bright  and  lovely  things,  but  while  I 
gazed  their  lustre  faded.  There  is  nothing  here  that  can 
give  me  rest,  but  when  I  behold  thee,  O  God,  I  shall  be 
satisfied." 


FINIS  CORONAT  OPUS. 


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